


think twice

by ndnickerson



Series: nothing else but this [4]
Category: Nancy Drew - Carolyn Keene
Genre: Anal Play, Anal Sex, Dancing, Deepthroating, Dirty Talk, Double Penetration, Engaged Couple, F/M, Flirting, Hair-pulling, Light Dom/sub, Masturbation, Mild S&M, Missionary Position, New York City, Oral Sex, Porn Battle, Porn With Plot, Power Dynamics, Rough Sex, Sex Toys, Strap-Ons, Vacation, Vibrators, Woman on Top
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-18
Updated: 2015-02-18
Packaged: 2018-03-13 15:32:08
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 28,332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3386924
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ndnickerson/pseuds/ndnickerson
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for the amnesty round for Porn Battle VIII; prompts: undone, lip, billiards, break-in, tease. Nancy and Ned take a trip to New York to celebrate their engagement and reconnect with their history.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally published in July 2012.

She's dressed for the stakeout. Chicago is in the middle of a record heat wave and when Ned opens the passenger-side door and slides into her Mustang, he's greeted by the sight of miles of slender golden leg, her dark shorts so brief as to be practically underwear. Her red-gold hair is up in a messy bun, the fine baby wisps almost translucent in the light, against the aristocratic curve of her spine. She immediately takes the proffered bag of take-out from his hand with a delighted cry.

"You are the best, Nickerson."

Ned grins at her. "Damn right I'm the best," he says, taking out two canned sodas. "And I'll expect some demonstrations of your appreciation later."

She checks her watch while snapping her chopsticks apart. "Which might be a while," she says apologetically, pulling open a box and scrutinizing the contents. "You know I love you, and if you get bored, it's okay for you to head home."

Ned shakes his head. "And do what, pack? Eh. I'd rather spend time with you."

She smiles and when he reaches over to steal a bite of fried rice, she takes a bite of his pepper beef. "Mmmm. So everything's okay? You gonna be pinned to wi-fi while we're gone?"

He shrugs. "I'm sure I'll have to answer a few emails, but everything's under control. What about _you_?"

She shrugs too. "Trent said as long as I covered this before I left, they'd muddle through until I got back. He just conveniently forgot to mention that I might be here until midnight."

Ned groans. "And if you _are_ , I bet when we get home you'll want to go straight to bed..."

"I'm sorry, I was practically _begging_ for it last night—" She peers up at the apartment house across the way, through the windshield, her chopsticks sticking up out of the takeout box.

"Baby, if I hadn't had to get up..."

"I know, I know." Satisfied that they aren't inadvertently ignoring a break-in, she glances over at him, patting his knee. "You're right. I just can't wait to just get to New York and relax, though."

"And have even quieter sex than usual," Ned grumbles, stealing another bite of fried rice. "You know your aunt was just offering her spare bedroom to be nice."

"But it'll save us money," she points out. "It'll mean more money for the wedding."

"Yeah, I saw some of those lists you brought home," Ned says incredulously. "We could've gotten a penthouse suite for the week for just the price of the damn _flowers_."

She cups his cheek, holding his gaze for a moment. "This is gonna be one of the most important days of our life together," she murmurs. "I want it to be as perfect as it can be. You got a problem with that?"

Ned shakes his head, cupping his hand over hers, his fingertips brushing her engagement ring. "You know I'd give you anything you wanted," he says softly. "Anything at all. I'd get them to plant a damn rain forest in the place if that's what you wanted."

She smiles and kisses his other cheek, stroking her thumb gently over his skin. "I think Dad's spending all the money I didn't use for Wilder, for this," she murmurs. "He said his little girl is only getting married once, so money is no object. I just hate having to ask for his help..."

"I know, but damn, we still should've gotten a hotel room," he murmurs. "It's been too long since I got to hear you scream for me, babe."

The color rises in her cheeks, just a little, but her eyes are sparkling wickedly. "Well, I'm sure Aunt Eloise will leave the apartment _sometime_..."

They finish off as much of the take-out as they can manage, and she takes her soda and downs half of it in a single long sip, and Ned can't resist the urge to let his gaze sink down, tracing her curves, the slope of her breasts under her dark tank top. She slowly lowers her drink and looks over at him, her eyebrow raised.

"Yeah, see, _that_ is what _you_ think a stakeout is."

"Getting to stare at my fiancée while she's dressed as a sexy cat burglar? Yes. That is _exactly_ what a stakeout is."

"But you don't stop with just staring," she smirks, glancing back up at the building. "Then you lean over and start kissing that spot behind my ear, trying to slide your hand up under my shirt, and..."

He leans over, craning his neck so he can follow her gaze, idly tracing one fingertip from her knee up toward her thigh. "And?"

She sighs. "And I hope this guy just shows up already so I can race you home and fuck your brains out."

The car is becoming unbearably hot, and it's not just due to the muggy weather. They do a circuit of the building, and in her outfit, in a pair of dark running shoes, she fits right in as a preppy after-work jogger. Ned, still in his work uniform of slacks and a button-down, plays the role of a guy who isn't sure he has the right address written down, consulting a scrap of paper as he checks the names written in beside the buzzers and on the mailboxes. She's doing a lazy stretch when they meet back up at her car, and when she leans over, bending over her knee, Ned has to swallow hard to keep himself from shoving her into the cramped backseat of her Mustang and sliding those tiny shorts right off her.

Her phone rings and she touches her Bluetooth earpiece. "Drew... What? ... No. No fucking way. He... Well... Okay. So that's it?"

Ned's practically bouncing with anticipation when she ends the call and glances up at him. "So... the guy we're tracking is across town. And inside, too, so Reid has him."

"And does that mean the stakeout is over?"

She sighs and nods. "Yeah. Dammit."

He can tell she's irritated that she didn't catch the break. "Hey, all the better. We can get home and pack..."

"Yeah, that's not gonna take _that_ long," she points out.

"It's what I'm planning on doing to you _after_ that will."

She reaches up and takes the ponytail ring out of her hair, letting it fall to shining waves past her shoulders. She explained to him once that she wore her hair that way on cases so a guy she had to take on in close quarters wouldn't find so easy a handhold as a ponytail, and he has to admit, the thought of burying his fingers in her loose hair and pulling her to him is always even more tempting now. Then she peers at him from below her lashes and he _knows_ it's intentional.

"So, when we get home..." Her voice is low, almost a growl. "Maybe you could fuck me with the strap-on."

The low, simmering arousal he always feels in her presence spikes until he's fucking tenting his pants right there in the middle of the street. "Seriously?"

She nods, stepping in close to him, and idly draws her fingertips up and down his hip. "I want you to fill me up, baby, fuck me sore, until I'm screaming."

He lets out a groan of frustration, leaning down to kiss her hard. "Which I would fucking _love_ to do, if we could..."

She slips her fingers into his hair, nipping at his lower lip, and then she traces her mouth along his jawline, until she's kissing his earlobe. "But we _can_. When I was leaving this morning Jane said Maggie went into labor early so they were leaving today at noon..."

He grabs her and pivots, pinning her against her car, and there are other cars passing by, joggers and pedestrians, and he doesn't give a fuck. "You mean you've known _all day_ that we were gonna have the house to ourselves tonight..."

She nods, the gleam in her eyes wicked. "And I've been wet _all day_ fantasizing about you bending me over the bed and fucking me, baby."

He leans in to press his lips against her ear. "Fucking you with the dildo while I'm giving you anal?"

She hesitates for a second before she lets out a shivering breath, nodding. "You just have to get me ready first," she moans, and she brings her knee up, stroking her inner thigh against his hip, and immediately, without a second thought, his hips are pressed tight to hers, his erection pressing against her. "Lube up my tight little asshole so I can take your big, hard cock."

He wants to shove her fucking shorts down and get inside her right then, but he settles for kissing her hard, pressing his hips savagely against hers. "If you don't get in your car and start driving right now," he growls against her lips, "I'm gonna fuck you against it... and I've been wanting to do _that_ for a damn long time, baby."

Her lips are swelled red from his kiss when she slips out from beneath him, arousal simmering in her gaze, and into her car.

Halfway back to his place—it's their place now, really, has been for a while—he calls her, jamming the heel of his hand into the horn in irritation when anyone so much as makes him take his foot of the gas, much less actually brake. "Nan, please, _please_ tell me you weren't teasing," he says when she picks up, and she giggles in response. "I'm hard as a diamond in ice."

"I wasn't joking. And my panties are actually soaked right now."

He shakes his head, quickly checking his blind spot so he can veer into the other lane, bypassing a slow-moving station wagon. "I thought I was going to have to get you drunk off your ass to get you to even go for that. ...You're not drunk, are you?"

"Stone sober," she confirms, and he can hear her honking too, just as impatient as he is. "Ugh! Shit."

"What is it?"

"Just got a text."

"I swear to fucking God, if it's your work..." He isn't even joking. He will fucking call Trent if he has to and explain that the words "fucking" and "strap-on" and "lube" are in play, and he _cannot_ get in the way of that.

"It's not work," she says, and her voice is stronger, no longer the seductive growl she has been using on him. "It's George. She says... she's pretty sure she can make it."

"That's great, Nan."

"I'll text her back when I get home."

"Hey, whatever you want to do in the point-eight seconds it takes me to get you naked..."

They hang up, and at the thought of their trip, he relaxes just a little. He knows she's nervous about it, and her nervousness makes him want to do anything he can to make it perfect for her. But so much of it is out of his control. If she wants him by her side when she sees Bess and George for the first time in years, he will be there. And if she doesn't, if she comes to him after and they've hurt her feelings, he'll pull her into his arms and kiss her tears off her cheeks, and his heart will break for her.

His fiancée. Soon she will be his wife.

Even sooner, though, she'll be bent over for him, screaming as he pounds into her.

He barely makes it through the next light, almost shuddering in anticipation.

\--

The upper part of the house isn't lit, and Sonny and Jane's car isn't in the driveway. Nancy breathes a sigh of relief, screeching to a stop in her usual parking spot, locking the car before she makes a dash for the apartment.

_I'm hard as a diamond in ice._

Her lips curve up in a wicked smile as she toes her shoes off, yanking off her socks, stripping off her tank top and shorts. She waits to drop her bra and panties until she's in the bedroom, and outside she hears a car door slam. Ned's here.

She looks down at the freshly-groomed join of her thighs, and _God_ , she's already so wet that any movement whatsoever makes her clench and throb in answer. She's bent over the drawer, rummaging through to find the strap-on, and that's how Ned finds her. She turns, still bent over, to see his silhouette in the doorway, the large, masculine shape of him, and a shiver travels over her belly, against her spine.

"Best thing I've seen all day," he growls, pulling his shirt off as he crosses the room to her, and she tosses the dildo onto the bed, standing on her tiptoes to kiss him as she fumbles with his fly. She hadn't doubted him, but he definitely wasn't lying about his erection, and when she gently clasps him in her fist, he rocks against her, backing her toward the bed.

She slips onto the mattress, bringing her knees up, and when he returns to her he dumps a handful of foil packets and the bottle of lube on the bed, slipping his knees between her bent legs. "Much as I hate to ask," he says, cupping his palm between her thighs, and even that touch makes a shudder tremble up her spine, "you sure you want to do this? We're gonna be on a flight tomorrow."

"It won't be for so long," she murmurs, and Ned swallows hard when she cups her breasts, rubbing her thumbs over her nipples. "Besides, I think you said something about me showing just how appreciative I was..."

He nods, running one finger just barely against the slit of her sex, and she writhes under him. "Mmm," he growls in approval. "I can't believe I get to see this every night for the rest of my life. So fucking gorgeous, babe."

"Oh, you'll get tired of me," she teases him, her hips rocking as she plucks at her nipples.

His gaze is dark when it finds hers. "Never," he murmurs, ripping open one of the foil packets, and she clenches in anticipation when he lubes up his fingers. She brings her knees back, tilting her hips up to give him access, and the cooler air against her slick inner flesh makes her lightheaded for a second.

He gently traces the rim of her tight asshole with his fingers, and she shivers, panting. The first time they tried anal she had thought she was going to die, he was so big. He has to take his time, to relax her so she can take his cock, but she loves the foreplay, and even though she can tell he loves having to talk her past her reluctance, she has to admit to herself that she actually does like it. Not nearly so much as she does when his cock or his tongue are buried in the slick heat of her cunt, but the thought of him pounding into her, finding his release in her, no matter what, is unspeakably erotic.

He begins slow at first, and Nancy, still fondling her nipple, pinching it and then rubbing it with the flat of her palm, trails her hand idly down her belly, her fingertip curving around her clit. "Mmm, yeah, baby," Ned growls as he watches, slipping his fingers a little deeper inside her, and she squirms, panting as she fondles her clit with the same slow strokes.

He shakes his head as he slips his fingers out of her, reaching for the lube again. She feels entirely exposed to him, and when he rims her again she slips her finger into her cunt, her slick inner flesh already weakly spasming, and then slips it out again, offering it to him. Ned sucks her finger into his mouth, his tongue stroking against her, tasting every drop of her arousal, and she shudders in reply as he pushes deeper, as she brings her other hand down to continue teasing her clit. "God," she moans, flushing, making herself pull back. Her fingers are slick with her arousal and her every nerve ending feels like it's on fire. "Oh my God, baby, I'm almost ready, just a little more..."

He pushes the full length of his fingers up into her ass and she cries out, her hips rocking. "God, _please_ , fuck me," she begs him. "Hard, baby, I need you, oh my God feels so _fucking_ good..."

He reaches for the dildo, sliding the ring over his cock, reaching down to strap it around his balls. " _Shit_ ," he groans. "Mmm, baby, I am gonna fuck you until you scream, and even then I'm not gonna stop..."

When he's put condoms over both the dildo and his own cock, and stroked lube thoroughly over his erection, she rolls onto her hands and knees, trembling in anticipation. " _Please_ ," she moans, knowing how much it turns him on when she begs him. "Please, Ned, fuck me hard, baby, I've been wet for you all day long."

"That's right," he says, his fingertips lightly brushing the curve of her ass before he smacks it. "You are a _bad_ girl, very bad, and I'm gonna fuck you good again..."

He traces some more lube around her opening before he just barely fits the head of his cock in her ass, groaning as he reaches down to move the dildo into place, and when she feels them both just inside her, she shudders, already tightening. She groans as he pushes just a bit inside her, and she cups her hand under the dildo, making sure it won't slip out of her before it's fully seated in her cunt. "Oh," she cries out, her brow knitting, when he thrusts gently into her, the dildo sliding a bit further inside her. "Feels so good, so good, baby, _yes_ ," she whimpers. "Oh my God, give it to me hard, your cock feels so good, oh God, _Ned_ —"

Her voice rises in another cry as he begins to stroke in her, moving gently to keep from hurting her. "So fucking tight," he growls, and she shudders when he pushes almost his entire length in her. "Oh, so good, baby..."

He smacks her ass again, and she sobs when he finally pushes as deep as he can, the dildo buried fully between her thighs, his cock so fucking _thick_ in her ass, and then his fingertip finds her clit—

"Oh my _God_ ," she screams, tossing her hair back, her hips shaking as he pulls back and drives into her in one hard thrust, still fondling her clit. "Oh fucking _yes yes oh my God_ you feel so sooooo good, ohmy _God_ , Ned," she screams again, and he's pounding into her, and oh _God_ she's so tight, the dildo is almost as big as his cock, and he rubs his thumbnail over her clit and she gasps in a breath for another loud, begging cry.

"You like that," he grunts, fucking her harder. "You know you love to take it in the ass, you dirty girl."

"Yes," she sobs out, and when she pinches her nipples hard, she can feel the tension of her orgasm reach almost unbearable heights. She'll die if he stops. She'll die if he doesn't. "Yeah, baby, oh my _God_ , _Ned_..."

"Nancy," he grunts. "Oh shit, baby..."

He pushes her knees a little further apart and his angle shifts inside her and she lets out a breathless scream, her breasts shaking as she takes his thrusts. His fingertip rapidly circles her clit and she arches her back, sobbing as the pleasure just rises higher and higher in her. "Don't stop don't stop just like that oh _shit,_ " she begs him when he drives into her rapidly, roughly. The sensation of him filling her, filling all of her, the smell of their arousal and sweat and God, she can hear how slick she is as the dildo drives home again and again. Ned moans loudly when she actually rocks her hips back to meet his thrusts, just a little, and he flicks her clit, leaving her gasping and sobbing even more loudly, and finally she feels it. The unbearable sensitivity of her arousal turns his every thrust into exquisite agony, and the tension rises until she's desperate, crying out his name, tight again across her belly and down her spine as she finally comes and begins to spasm hard around the dildo, screaming out her pleasure.

"Yeah," Ned growls, and her hips are jerking, all of her is slick with sweat and tense with need as he rides her through her orgasm, fucking her until she's incoherent, his every movement sending a wave of painful arousal over her. He only stops touching her once he's come, once he's begun to pant his breath back, and when he slips out of her she collapses to the bed, boneless, spent, moaning, her inner flesh sensitive and sore from his thrusts.

"You okay?" Ned gasps, panting his breath back.

"Ngh," Nancy replies, her eyes closed, her face against the comforter. "Mmmmm."

"That was sexy as hell," he tells her, and she still can't open her eyes or bring herself to move. She hears him turn on the water in the bathroom, and it's only her own arousal and lube down her thighs, but she rolls over and moans as she parts her legs, letting him clean her up.

"Do I need to get you a nightgown and tuck you in?" Ned teases her, and she finally opens her eyes, lazily. He has a little smirk on his face. He likes that he's left her speechless.

She takes a deep breath and shakes her head. "Fuck the nightgown," she murmurs. "Okay we have _got_ to take that with us. I want to get on top of you and ride you while I'm taking it in the ass..."

Ned's eyes darken at her words. "Babe, you keep talking like that and we'll lock ourselves in the lake house for a week and fuck until we have no bodily fluids left."

She chuckles. "Big talk, Nickerson."

He pulls the covers down and she moves between, still fully naked save her engagement ring, and he joins her. She settles against him with a sigh, and when their skin touches she feels her inner flesh throb weakly in answer.

"That was so fucking hot," he murmurs again, stroking his hand down her arm. "God. To be able to see your face while we're doing that?..."

She smiles against his chest. "To have you inside me, so fucking hard and big, so you can feel how slick my cunt is for you..." she moans.

He pins her down with a little growl. "I must be fucking dreaming," he says, his voice deep and gravelly with arousal. "Say 'cunt' again."

"Cunt," she breathes, arching up under him, opening her legs.

"Tell me what you want me to do that tight, sweet little cunt of yours."

"Everything," she moans, and she knows he hasn't had enough time to get hard again, but his fingers are drifting down her side. "I spend all day wet for you, thinking about what I can do to get you off when you get home... but mostly I think about you on top of me, hard as holy fuck, being helpless under you when you slide your hot, hard cock up into my _cunt_..."

She can feel the warmth of his fingers lingering between her legs, teasing the very tips of her curls, but then, with no warning, he plunges three fingers up inside her and his thumb finds her clit. She sucks in a breath, immediately bucking under him, and oh holy _fuck_ her orgasm has left her so sensitive. She writhes, crying out, panting for breath.

"Such a fucking _dirty_ mouth," he muses, and her heart is echoing in her ears. "God, such a fucking sexy _dirty_ mouth. You know what I want to do when I hear you saying that?"

"Fuck me," she moans, and she doesn't know if it's an answer or a plea or both.

"I want to fuck that dirty little mouth," he tells her. "Watch you deep-throat me until you gag and then swallow. While you're holding a vibrator up inside you, while I watch you work that thing, screaming with every jerk of your sweet..." he kisses her left nipple, "wet," he kisses her right nipple, "tight," he brushes his lips against her belly button, "little cunt."

He suckles against her clit, his fingers still working roughly inside her, and she _screams_ full throated, arching, her hips writhing under him. "Oh fuck _yes_ ," she sobs, all of her tense with need as he licks his way down the slick folds of her inner flesh. She spasms hard when he presses his tongue into her cunt, and oh _God_ she's totally out of control, she has no control whatsoever, she knows she's screaming but it feels fucking _amazing_. "Ned," she cries out, her fist tightening in his hair.

And oh God, he's had enough time now, and he plunges his fingers into her a few times more and then he's pushing his cock fully into her in one rough, brutal thrust. "Oh _shit oh God yes_ ," she screams, and she drags her nails down his back and he surges against her, hilt deep between her thighs, and the dildo hadn't been long enough to fill her this way and she closes her eyes, tipping her head back, panting desperately for breath. He keeps rubbing her clit and she can only draw breath to scream again.

He reaches under her to tilt the angle of her hips and she brings her legs up to keep herself like that, her heels against the mattress, and when he drives into her again she's shaking, clenching hard against his cock. "Yeah," Ned groans, his voice shaking with his every thrust, "God, I wish I could fuck you both ways at once, your cunt feels so good, baby..."

He leans down, arching so he can kiss her, and his tongue plunges into her mouth, leaving the taste of her arousal there. She buries her fingers in his hair, canting her hips back and forth, circling to shift his angle, and he digs his thumb hard against her clit, pulling back so he can hear her loud answering cry.

Ned groans, pounding into her even faster as his orgasm rises, and she tips her head back, her eyes rolling back at the sheer pleasure of feeling him stroke in and out of her, the unspeakably amazing feel of his thumb against her clit. "Oh Ned oh my _God_ it feels so good, so good baby—"

Her hips writhe under him as she comes again, sobbing his name, her inner flesh tightening hard around his cock. She rocks up to meet his thrusts and he's panting, she can feel it against her temple.

"Oh my _God_ come," she begs him, and immediately he collapses between her thighs, still stroking her clit, feeling her clench in response as he comes. They pant their breath back, still joined, her legs fallen fully open under him, pinned under his hips. It takes a very long moment for him to move again, and she's stroking her hand up and down his back, lazily, her heart slowing against his.

He turns his head to press his lips against her cheekbone and their skin is slick where it touches. "Babe, you ever want me to rip your clothes off? Just say that word again."

She chuckles. "Good to know," she murmurs, and he shifts to a more comfortable position on top of her and she sighs a little in relief, brushing his dark hair off his forehead.

"You know how you asked if I was drunk earlier?" she whispers, barely able to force the words out.

He pulls back to look at her face. "Yeah," he says slowly. "But you wouldn't drive drunk, and you sure as hell don't taste like alcohol..."

"Let's... just say I thought you'd take this better if I... warmed you up first," she says, looking at his mouth.

"Take _what_ better," he says softly, the barest edge in his voice.

"Mmm. Frank and Joe are coming."

She barely has the words out when he's pushing up, sliding out of her, but the sheer size of him crouched over her is enough to send a shiver over her belly. "I thought they couldn't come—"

"Well, their schedule opened up."

Ned shakes his head. "Well, then, I'm definitely fucking coming with you," he says, looking for the cloth they had used before.

She pushes herself up on her elbows. "I'm sorry, did you think you _weren't_?"

He shrugs. "When it was just gonna be you and the girls... I didn't want to be there if you didn't want me to. Didn't want to make things awkward." He scoops up the cloth and hands it to her so she can wipe her thighs. "But if the Hardys are going to be there, I'm gonna be there too. With bells on."

"Ned," she says, her voice low, warning.

"I'll be good," he says, taking the cloth and tossing it to the floor before he slips back under the covers with her. "For as long as he is."


	2. Chapter 2

Ned adores New York. Just being in the city energizes him, and he has a wide grin on his face when they greet Eloise just outside the terminal.

"It is so wonderful to see you two again!" Eloise says exuberantly, opening the trunk of her car so they can wrestle their luggage inside. "Let me see that ring, dear... wonderful taste, Ned," she says, giving him a little wink.

At least it's a few degrees cooler than Chicago, in the city. Nancy's wearing a short jersey dress, her hair is in loose waves, and despite her reassurance the night before, she's had a slight look of discomfort on her face since they boarded the plane. But then it was a plane, and those are never comfortable, even under the best circumstances.

"I thought you two could settle in—we'll start getting ready for the party after lunch tomorrow, there's a great brunch place just down from my apartment, so we could meet there? I don't know if you two want to sleep in, maybe do some sightseeing...?"

"Sleeping in does sound great," Ned replies. "But we could get together tonight, unless you have plans?"

"One of Seth's good friends is in town and we had already made plans to have dinner with him and his wife," Eloise sighs in apology. "But the rest of the weekend is yours. I am at your disposal. Nancy, I thought maybe you and I could hang out on Monday and talk about wedding stuff, and Ned could... maybe watch some ESPN."

Ned chuckles. "Hey, I'm okay with talking about wedding stuff," he says, mock defensively. " _Especially_ if you can talk Nan into making the groom's cake a football."

They keep talking about plans for their trip as they navigate into the city, toward Eloise's apartment. Eloise is organizing an informal party to celebrate her niece's engagement, and Carson was already going to be in town. Emily Terner and a few of the people Nancy made friends with during her summer in the Hamptons are planning on coming, along with Seth, and even Fenton Hardy, in town for the same conference as Carson Drew, indicated he would make an appearance.

Part of the reason they're waiting to go home until Tuesday, though, is the chance to meet up with Bess. She's in a weekend production in the city and she's off Monday, and they've made plans to meet at a Caribbean restaurant near Broadway. From there Nancy contacted George, and Frank and Joe, and now it's shaping up to be one of the most awkward meals Ned's ever been through. It probably won't be quite as awkward as the meal after Hannah called them to dinner and inadvertently walked in on Nancy and Ned when Ned's hand had clearly been under Nancy's skirt, or the meal after his father had told Ned that he had to be more careful hiding his porn because his mother had accidentally found it.

It could trump them all, though. Especially if they start drinking. Maybe even if they don't.

Nancy looks up in confusion when Eloise pulls into the circular driveway in front of a hotel. "Did you move, Aunt Eloise?" she asks.

Eloise chuckles. "No..."

"We're staying here," Ned says, shooting Nancy a little smile as he jumps out of the car.

"Ned!" Nancy's exasperated, but her eyes are bright, as she gets out of the car. "I thought we said we were gonna save money..."

"We are," he replies, pulling his bag out of the trunk before he reaches for hers. "Campbell Ginn, he was in the pledge class before me? I did him a favor once and he said if I ever needed anything, to call him." He gestures at the hotel. "His family owns this place."

Nancy reaches for him, struggling to frown as she brushes her lips over his cheek. "Well, okay. If it wasn't any trouble."

"It really wasn't. And as much as I love your aunt, I'm sure she and Seth don't really want us cramping their style."

"You _know_ it would have been no trouble," Eloise replies, shaking her head. "But I understand that you two want your privacy. I remember how it was to be engaged." Her eyes sparkle, and Nancy strokes her fingertips down Ned's arm before she grabs her bag. "Just call me in the morning when you're ready to eat, okay?"

Eloise leaves with a wave, and Nancy casts an impish look at Ned as they walk into the lobby of the hotel. "So you called her and planned this," she accuses him.

"Maybe," he says, rolling his eyes up in mock innocence.

Their room is small but nice, and as soon as they walk in Ned drops his bags and collapses onto the pillowy king-sized bed. "Mmmmmm," he murmurs, barely opening his eyes enough to see his fiancée. "Come here, baby. We got up way too damn early this morning and I think we both need a nap."

"Mmm-hmm. _Nap._ " She tugs her dress over her head, leaving her in her polka-dotted bra and black panties, then bends over to dig around in her duffel, and he enjoys the view until she straightens, a bottle of facial cleanser in her hand. "You like that, baby?"

"Hell yes," he murmurs, toeing his shoes off and hearing them drop to the floor, unseen. He's just taking his pants off when she walks back in, her face scrubbed clean, and slides onto the bed, tugging the covers down. She sprawls on her belly with a contented sigh, her face buried in the pillow, and he joins her, curving his arm over the bare small of her back.

"You okay?"

"Yeah," she responds, too quickly, a little too brightly. "You okay?"

His hand drifts over her ass and she flinches a little. "We can try tomorrow," she tells him, bringing one knee up. "Just not yet."

"Hey, babe, it's okay. That's not why I wanted to be alone right now." He brushes a lock of hair off her cheek.

"Then why," she whispers, pushing herself up, and he pulls her into his arms, facing her.

"Because I love you," he murmurs. "And we're going to spend the rest of the weekend smiling and being around people and it's been so damn long since I was just able to hold you like this, without anything else interfering."

She kisses his shoulder, smiling. "I'm shocked my cell phone didn't go off before you stopped talking."

He reaches behind her back and unhooks her bra, and she moves to take it off, her blue eyes gone low-lidded. When she moves over him, when she brushes her lips against his, he cups her cheek, relishing the feel of her bare skin against his.

"You slept with Frank, didn't you," he whispers.

Her eyes fill with tears, and she rolls off him, onto her back, staring hard up at the ceiling. She doesn't speak for a long moment, but she doesn't really have to; he can see it in her face.

As far as he's concerned, it's done. Whoever she slept with or didn't while they were apart, that's her business; the last thing he wants to do is go over the list of girls _he_ slept with in exhaustive detail. It was bad enough seeing Jennifer at the lake, or when Susan popped up at the party Mike and Jan threw a few months earlier. But Frank is a part of _their_ past, and Ned wants to know where he stands before he's in the same room with the man again, after so long.

"It... yeah," she admits. "We did. A few times. And then I got shot, and..." She shakes her head. "Everything kind of fell apart after that, not just him and me. Is there other stuff you want to know?"

"The stuff I don't really have a right to," he admits, rolling onto his side to face her. "Like where he stands in comparison to me, like whether he said he loved you, whether you said you loved him too..."

"He's not quite as big as you," she says, and her face has lost that almost frozen expression. "None of them were quite as big as you. He was good in bed... but he wasn't going to make me scream the way you do." Her gaze shifts down, away from his. "Yeah, we said we loved each other... but..."

He aches to touch her but he can't, not yet. "But what," he murmurs.

She looks up at him. "I don't know how it was for you," she says softly. "But there's this... this hollow, and even when you think you've found something else to fill it... nothing ever will. I thought we were done, Ned... and I kept trying to find someone, anyone, to make me feel whole again. I don't know if he ever could have, and when I was shot I knew... even if he did love me, it would never be the way it was for me, with you. I'd die with him. And there was a part of me that thought that wouldn't be so bad."

He runs the tip of his finger down her cheek, feeling her breathe, and searches her eyes. "You were the other half of me," he whispers. "You _are_ the other half of me. And it didn't matter how many girls I slept with, you were always there, in the back of my head, and I knew it didn't matter, that with anyone else it would be settling.

"And, Nan... baby, when I'm with you, it doesn't matter what we're doing—watching TV, having sex, making dinner. It doesn't matter. You make me _happy_. You make me happier than anyone else I've ever met, and I will never, never let you go without a fight again."

She gives him a small smile. "Just never let me go again," she says softly. "No matter what. I didn't know what was worth fighting for until I lost you."

He kisses her, softly and sweetly, then brushes his lips over her eyelids, the tip of her nose, her chin. She slides her arms around him and they hold each other, just breathing, as they drift to sleep.

There's absolutely no urgency to them when they wake and slowly begin to get ready for dinner. Ned texts Campbell to invite him to go with them, as a thank-you for the room, and when Nancy asks if Campbell is seeing anyone, a wicked gleam in her eye, Ned gets a little nervous. She reaches for her phone and receives a text a few minutes later, when he's just slipping his shoes on.

Nancy makes a face, scrunching the loose waves of her hair idly in one hand. "Eh, Mel's on a job. She's gonna try to make it tomorrow, though."

"Mel?"

"Melanie Harris? When the crown prince was—"

"Ahh," Ned says, remembering. When he gets drunk enough he asks Nancy about the cases she took while they were apart, and that's a question he can ask without stumbling across the minefields of the time they lost. Melanie helped her out a few times when she was in New York, and she sounds like a blast. He's met so few of these people who were in her life while they were apart.

And then sometimes she'll want to try something in bed and he finds himself wondering what happened after, because for the longest time he was her first, her only, and all that she knew was what they had done together. After what she said that afternoon he wonders if it's the way it was for him, that the spark of attraction he saw in the eyes of a girl across a room would mean he'd do his best to have her bouncing on top of him before the night was done, because the nights were the worst. He imagines Nancy, her eyes heavily lined and her lashes drooping invitingly as she strode through the club, all the fucking eyes on her, looking for a sign that she was ready and willing. Imagines her grabbing the hand of the hottest guy on the floor and leading him to the back, begging him to fuck her against the wall, hard enough to make her forget.

But she is his, now. Again and forever.

He touches her arm and she looks up from her phone, her fingers folding around his. Her dress is a bright royal blue, the soft fabric draping over her curves, her legs lean and gorgeous and ending in a pair of strappy beige sandals.

"You look gorgeous, baby."

Her grin is slow and genuine, lighting up her blue eyes. "And you look incredibly handsome tonight, Mr. Nickerson."

She is not the most gorgeous woman he's ever seen; she's not the most gorgeous woman he's ever had in his bed. But she is utterly fucking gorgeous and the most _beautiful_ woman, inside and out, that he's ever met, and she's _his_ , and Hardy can eat his fucking heart out for all Ned's concerned.

Campbell suggests Greenhouse 36, but that's where Eloise is hosting the party, so he calls a guy he knows and texts Ned that they have a table at Gramercy Tavern if they want it. Nancy tells Ned that she thought he was a member of a frat, not the mob, and he chuckles. But he has to admit, knowing people who know people has always felt pretty amazing.

And what he loves... oh, they have learned to choose their time together carefully, knowing that with rare exceptions her work might delay her, even if she spends twelve nights of every fifteen in his arms. She shares her work with him now, talking about the stakeouts, the monotonous research, the delays, the futility she feels when a lead doesn't pan out, the exhilaration she feels when one does. But when she makes a promise to him now she doesn't break it. She works hard at her job and she's let him see that part of her again, and he loves her, all of her, who she is now. Who they were between doesn't matter anymore, not to him.

She was lost, just as lost as he. Now the only thing that has the power to frighten him is the thought of a life without her in it.

And it's a date that won't be interrupted by a frantic phone call or series of escalating text messages. They walk into the restaurant together, hands joined, her chin up and a delighted smile on her face, and God, the energy of the city, the flow and pulse of so many people around them, the delight of having her near—her eyes are brighter, and there's an extra swing in her step. They move effortless through the crowd and she's not a part of it, not really; she can never blend in, as far as he's concerned. She has a fucking _glow_ about her, and it only brightens when their gazes meet.

Oh, oh hell, he has it bad. But he's had it bad for her since the day they met.

"Campbell," Ned says heartily, reaching out to shake his frat brother's hand. "Campbell Ginn, this is my fiancée, Nancy Drew."

"Very pleased to see you again," Nancy says, reaching for his hand before they sit down. "Thank you so much for the room, it's really lovely."

"You're very welcome. And I know who she is," Campbell says, smiling warmly at Nancy before turning a quizzical look on Ned. "Why the formality, Nickerson?"

"Just reminding you that she's _definitely_ off limits," Ned says with a friendly grin, reaching for the menu.

" _Definitely_? That _definitely_ sounds like a challenge. What you doing later, gorgeous?"

Nancy looks up from her menu with an arched eyebrow, tilting her head in Ned's direction, and Campbell chuckles approvingly.

It's New York, and they're at one of the best restaurants in the city, and they order chilled lobster and an utterly luscious bottle of wine and Campbell knew them when they were together, years before. They reminisce about the crazy parties at Omega Chi and when Ned asks how Campbell likes the city, he shrugs.

"It's amazing, you know? It really is. And I'm glad my dad is giving me some experience out here, but I can't wait to get out on my own." Campbell finishes off his glass of wine, nodding when Ned lifts his eyebrow and the half-empty bottle in unspoken offering. "But enough about me. So you two are getting hitched, in..."

"Chicago," Ned confirms. "Just not quite sure where yet."

"Or when," Nancy admits, touching Ned's hand.

"Must not be a shotgun wedding then," Campbell chuckles. "But then I didn't think it would be with you two. Even though you couldn't keep your hands off each other."

Nancy ducks just a little, but he can tell she's pleased at the thought.

Once they've settled the tab—and Ned takes it over Nancy's objections, since he would easily have spent that much on a single night in a hotel if not for Campbell's generosity—Nancy is just asking whether Campbell is seeing anyone, setting up another round of playful flirtation. "I sure would like to see a lot more of _you_ , sweetheart," Campbell says, wiggling his eyebrows. "Speaking of—"

"I'm dying to see how you finish that sentence," Ned says dryly.

"I was gonna meet up with a few friends at Nona East," Campbell finishes. "Get some dancing in. Maybe once the little lady," he winks at Nancy, "sees my killer moves out on the floor, she'll dump you."

"Or she'll beg me to set a date, the sooner the better," Ned replies, shaking his head.

"Nancy," Campbell says, his voice low and pleading, his hand resting very lightly at the small of her back as he ushers her out of the restaurant, "sweetheart, please tell me there's some space on your dance card. So I can at least show you what you're missing if you actually go through with marrying this poor bastard."

"First off," Nancy says sweetly, "if your hand moves down another inch, I'll break it off. Second..." She glances over at Ned, who shrugs, remembering the way she had reacted to Jennifer's outrageous flirtation. She had trusted him to do the right thing then. "Maybe one. _Maybe._ It's only fair to tell you, though, that my fiancé over there? Is like liquid sex on the dance floor."

"Well, that was _definitely_ a challenge."

She pats his arm. "You'll see."

The first thing she does when they walk into the club is order a double shot, and she cajoles Ned into doing the same. Since they don't have to drive back home, he shrugs and nods, tapping his glass against hers before they tip them back. Campbell cheers his approval, ordering his own round and introducing the two of them to the friends he's meeting there. Ned knows two of them—more accurately he knows _of_ them; they were in pledge classes before his own—and he sees more than a few appreciative glances lingering on Nancy's breasts and long legs. She seems immune to it, though, and as soon as she's shaken the last hand she's turning back to the bar, telling the overly attentive bartender that she wants another.

She's giggly and her color is high and when Campbell grabs her hand, nodding to the floor, and she glances back at Ned, waiting for his nod before she lets him take her out. Ned orders a scotch and water and just watches her, watches the two of them together. Despite all his big talk, Campbell seems more concerned with leaning in close to her, saying things to her that make her laugh, and God, Ned loves the sight of her, her slender hips swaying to the beat, her head tipped back and her hair spilling down. Campbell grabs her hand and twirls her and her eyes are so bright, laughing up into his, and Ned belts the rest of his scotch, unable to look away from them.

At the end of the dance one of the other guys walks over to her and she nods, but they're barely swaying together before his hand is dipping dangerously low on her back. Ned's off his stool and heading for them before he's even aware of it, but she backs away from the other guy, shaking her head, walking back toward the bar. Ned catches her hand in his and when she orders another double shot he takes one too, watching her curiously. Maybe it's because she's practically always on call, but she usually drinks at a more leisurely pace, working her way to a buzz and lingering there. Any second now he's expecting her to start crooning that she loves him, falling all over him as he leads her across the floor.

But she doesn't. She takes the shot and her grip on his hand is firm as she leads him out to the floor. The bass pounds through the club, through their bones, as he laces his fingers between hers and locks his brown eyes to her blue ones. They move together, and for him there's no one else in the entire club, in the world outside, only the two of them and the music.

They dance until the liquor blooms to euphoria in their veins. They dance until he sees sweat bead at her temples and her perfume rises from the heat of her body, and when she brings her leg up and touches her knee to his hip, he loops an arm around the small of her back, holding her knee with the other, their bodies tight together. She moans when his lips brush the column of her throat, when he cups her hips and rocks against her, her arms over his shoulders. He backs off a little when he feels himself begin to become aroused, but she sways against him, sliding her fingers into his hair, sucking hard at the side of his neck.

"You're driving me crazy," he growls, his fingers inching close to her ass. He knows they're in public but holy fuck, even after all this time, dancing does still feel like foreplay. Except now he knows he won't have to cajole her out of her clothes or beg her to just try the tip.

"Mmm." Her gaze centers on his mouth, then flicks up to his eyes. "I've been thinking about something you said last night."

"Oh?" He can barely hear her over the music, but the intent in her eyes is clear.

She tightens her fingers in his hair, drawing him down so she can press her lips against his ear, their bodies still swaying together. "You know how you said you wanted me to suck your cock, deep-throat you until I was gagging?"

He nods, his hips immediately, totally without his will, surging against hers.

"I want to try it. Tonight."

He tucks her hair behind her ear, then bends down to murmur directly into it. "But—you don't," he begins, and trails off. Every time they've tried it, and it hasn't been that many times, she's had to beg off, and it's okay with him; she's learned every fucking trick he likes and she's great at giving head, even if he's not feeling her throat constrict around his cock.

She shrugs. "Then force me," she says, her blue eyes direct on his.

"Force you?" he repeats, and he can't be hearing her right.

She nods. "Grab me by the hair and force your cock in my mouth. Make me take it."

He's fully fucking aroused by now, and she knows it; her lashes flutter when his hips brush against hers, seeking the warmth of her cunt. "I packed the vibrator," he growls into her ear. "And if I'm ordering you around, I'm gonna order you to do _that_ , too."

"You mean..." She turns that sultry wide-eyed look on him. "You mean you want to watch me work a vibrator up in my cunt while you fuck my mouth, baby?"

He grabs her ass, forcing her hips solidly against his. "You, me, cab, _now_ ," he growls.

"Let me settle the tab and get one more shot." Her small grin is wicked. "I'm gonna need it."

It's only once they're in the cab that he thinks about it, and it somehow rises over the fucking roar of his need for her. "Nan, if we're..." He makes a gesture, aware that the cab driver is very appreciative of his fiancée. "You can't say a safe word."

"You worried about me taking on more than I can handle?" Her eyes are sparkling.

"Well... yeah."

She considers. "How about if I slap your leg twice in a row," she suggests. "That way you'll know. Or, you know, if I pass out. I'd say you should stop then." But she doesn't look at all worried about that.

They take the elevator up to their floor and as soon as the doors open, as soon as he sees they're alone, he reaches up and twines his fingers in her hair, making a tight fist, and she gasps as he marches her down the hallway. Once they're inside he releases her and she stumbles against the bed, her blue eyes wide, but she isn't crying off.

"Get naked, _now_ ," he orders her, and she immediately reaches for the hem of her gown, pulling it off. He toes his shoes off, searching through his suitcase for the vibrator. "You wet, baby?" he asks, and when she nods he leaves the condoms and lube where they are.

He's halfway undressed when she sits down naked at the foot of the bed, glancing around the room. "I read something that I think will help," she murmurs. "I just need to be at the right height..."

Figuring it out takes a few minutes, and he has a raging hard-on the entire time, but once he sees what she wants to do, he finally starts to believe that it just might work. They straighten out the logistics of it and she's on the bed, propped on two pillows, the vibrator resting near her hip. He beckons her and she slides to the edge, her legs dangling over the end, her gaze up and on his, waiting.

He tangles his fingers in her hair again, angling himself for her, urging her down. "Suck it, baby," he murmurs, and she takes the head of his cock in her mouth, swirling her tongue around him as she slips her fingers up into the slick heat of her cunt. She fondles the base of his cock with her wet fingers, bobbing up and down against him, and then she gently cups his balls, and Ned lets out a long sigh, rocking gently. God, he wants it, he wants it so much.

He pulls back and moves onto the armchair, kneeling on it, as Nancy moves onto the bed, rolling onto her back, two pillows under her head to bring her to the right height. She opens her legs, her hair streaming down, and Ned has to swallow hard against his dry throat.

"Get the vibrator," he orders her, and she reaches for it, letting her legs fall fully open. "Now touch the tip against your clit, you dirty girl... just like that," he says approvingly, as she lets out a little whimper, rubbing the toy against her clit. "Now you take it, baby, push it up hard in your slick little cunt—"

He shivers as she fits it just inside her and cants her hips up, letting him watch her thrust the vibrator between her legs, until the ribbed protrusion is resting against her clit. "Mmmm, that's right. So fucking sexy, Nan. That feel good?"

She nods, and he can see her trembling a little, and her eyes are wide. He keeps waiting to hear her say the safe word, but she still hasn't.

Then he grabs her by the hair again, yanking, and she shudders. "Open that dirty little mouth so I can fuck it," he growls, and she obeys him, and when she's positioned like this, upside down, _God_ , he'll be able to get his cock fully into her mouth, against her throat without curving up against her soft palate. "Turn it on just a little and fuck yourself with it like it's my cock," he orders her, and she reaches down, twisting the base, letting out a little moan as he slowly traces the head of his cock against her tongue. He watches her pull the vibrator almost fully out of her before she pushes it swiftly back in, and he pushes his cock deeper, further into her mouth with the same stroke. "Yeah," he groans, his hips rocking as she does it again. "Yeah, I hear how wet you are, baby. Turn it up higher, push it hard up into your cunt... oh fuck _yeah_."

He tugs her hair again and she groans against his cock, and the vibration makes him surge against her. With one hand still working the vibrator between her legs, she reaches up and slaps the side of his ass, once, hard. He pushes deeper and she swallows, gagging a little, and he pushes into her throat, rocking back.

"All the way up, turn it all the way up," he grunts, thrusting into her mouth, and she reaches down, twisting the base savagely before she slams it home, hard up into her. Immediately she begins to writhe, and he feels her gasp around his cock before he hits the back of her throat again. She's arching, her hips rocking as the vibrator buzzes up in her cunt and against her clit, and she shudders hard when she begins to roughly fuck herself with the vibrator, while he fucks her mouth. Her entire body is trembling with the force of her arousal as she reaches between his legs, fondling his balls—

" _Shit_ , baby, oh God you are so fucking good, don't stop," he pants, thrusting his full length into her. She's whimpering and it feels so good against him, feeling her throat constrict against his cock, and when she begins to choke he pulls back a little, watching her frantically work the vibrator in her cunt as he thrusts again.

She cries out, her voice muffled against his cock, and then she's digging her nails into his ass as he rocks against her. She's trembling and then suddenly her hand falls open, and the vibrator slips out of her, wetly, buzzing angrily to itself. She arches and he comes with a loud groan, spending himself down her throat, and as soon as he's finished he pulls back, feeling her swallow. He releases her hair and she tips her head up a little—

And his cock brushes against the back of her tongue and she gags, rolling away from him as soon as she can, her mascara smeared around her eyes from her tears. She tumbles off the bed and into the bathroom, making small distressed noises, and then he hears her throwing up.

He's still panting his breath back as he tips over, picking up the vibrator and switching it off, and God, it's slick with her arousal. She goes quiet and he sinks to the foot of the bed as he hears the water running behind the bathroom door. When she emerges her face is scrubbed clean and she has her hair raked back, and she's shivering. He pulls back the covers, tipping over, and he scrabbles to put the vibrator on the bedside table as Nancy slips under the comforter.

"You okay?"

She nods. "Yeah, I would've been okay if it hadn't—there at the end—"

"Mmm." He slips under the covers. "So it was okay?"

"Mmm. Yeah," she says, her voice drawing out as she smiles. "Yeah. I like when you're rough with me, baby. When you order me around."

"So... we can do that again sometime?"

"Yeah. The next time I'm trying to preemptively fuck you into not killing someone."

"Hmm. I'll allow it," he murmurs, reaching over to pull her into his arms, and she comes to him willingly, snuggling against him.


	3. Chapter 3

Nancy surveys her reflection in the mirror. The ivory georgette A-line dress flares at her waist, a series of cascading ruffles beginning at the neckline. The straps and the banding at her waist are a crisp navy, and she paired the dress with a pair of dark platform pumps and the locket Ned gave her years before. Her lips are bare; she unzips her cosmetics bag, digging through it for the perfect rose shade of lipstick.

Her fingers close around the keychain and she pulls it out, her stomach flipping hard. She had forgotten it was in the bag, and now it feels like a sucker punch, to see it here.

When they were young she and Bess and George had gone through dozens of racks and displays at the River Heights Mall, through cheap earrings and elastic-strung bracelets and tiny bottles of nail polish, to no avail. Even George had joined in. All the Best Friends necklaces and keychains and earrings were made for two, and they needed three. Three pairs wouldn't be the same.

And then, when they were eight years old, Bess had found it. A set of three keychains. Best Friends Forever, one word on each piece. Nancy had taken the middle piece, the heart that joined the other two sections, Friends written large across the widest point.

The rift between Nancy and the cousins had started small, the summer before they had even started at Wilder. When she was filling out the housing form she had opted not to live with either of them, because she was getting out on her own, starting over, and sharing a room with either Bess or George or both had felt like falling back on a safety net—the same way staying with Ned had. They hadn't even been assigned the same dorm.

In primary school, in the time after high school, they had hung out together all the time, shopping, solving mysteries, holding sleepovers, going to the movies. At Wilder Nancy had been so determined to prove herself, to push herself harder, that all those things had felt unimportant. She had been at the newspaper, and Jake had been a more convenient stakeout partner, especially when Bess was in the theater department all the time, chasing actors when she wasn't chasing roles. George had been with Will, and their relationship had been as tempestuous as any Bess had been through. The girls' lunch dates had become fewer, farther between, but even as Nancy had started working with the campus television station, she had still been sure that over break, as soon as they had a chance, they would get together and have a meal together, catch up, and everything would be fine again. It would.

But then it was easier not to pick up the phone when Bess called, easier to find an excuse to get off the phone when George called, to put them off when they asked to get together. Nancy just didn't have the time to listen to the latest account of the drama in the theater department, or the latest stupid thing Will had done—it was so strange to her, how their priorities and their lives could be so different now—and she didn't really want to talk about what was going on in her life either. Didn't really want to talk about Peter, who had been obsessed with her until he had gone back home to help raise his ex-girlfriend's child. Didn't want to talk about that asshole Jake, the first man to share her bed since Ned, who had stolen a story right out from under her. Didn't want to talk about the guys she had picked up at the bar just off campus, or about Michael, or Jamie, or Carter.

Everything had come to a head during a miserable week Nancy was tracking down a campus saboteur, trying her best to resist Michael's wandering hands, wondering whether to help Frank and Joe on their latest case. Bess hardly ever called her anymore, except to invite her to campus theatrical productions, and those always seemed to fall on nights or during times she was obligated to cover an event or write a story; Nancy's excuses had become rote and Bess's calls tapered off.

George left her five messages that week and when she looked back on it, Nancy's cheeks burned with shame. She'd had every intention of returning the calls—it was unlike George to leave her so many in so short a time—but just the prospect of some emotional hour on the phone had made Nancy feel drained. And so she had put it off, and put it off, until the last message.

_Well, I guess now I know_ , George had said, her voice shaking with anger. _I see how it is. You really don't give a damn about us anymore, do you. I just... I decided to tell him, I can't have a baby right now, I just can't. It was a hard decision but I guess you were too busy to help me make it. So, you know, if that's how it is... that's fine. I won't fucking call you anymore. Just... have a nice life, Drew._

As soon as Nancy had heard the message, immediately she had wanted to call George, but she convinced herself not to. George was angry as hell. She needed time to calm down. George and Bess had always been so understanding, and Nancy knew she'd let things slip, a _lot_... she had let so many things slip. When she dragged herself back to her dorm room in the morning, her heart aching, her head fuzzy and her thighs sore, she hated who she saw in the mirror. She hated the thought of the disappointment and judgement she would see on Bess and George's faces if she talked to them about it, about what her life had become.

It hadn't been so bad at first, not when she had thought that she would find someone else, someone just as good as Ned if not better—but that hadn't happened. She had dated a series of men who had turned out to be impatient, self-centered assholes, and then it hadn't even been worth trying to start a relationship, not with the guys she was meeting at Wilder. She just needed to kill the ache of her loneliness, and the frat boys and bar regulars she met were more than willing to help.

She had been riding one in particular, his fingers digging hard enough to bruise against the curve of her ass, when she had caught herself wondering if Ned was doing the same... and then she had rolled off him, suddenly sobbing, as the guy, whose name she didn't even know, muttered to himself and jerked himself off.

_I miss you._

She had been too drunk that night to remember what he'd said in return.

She had taken Frank and Joe up on their offer and gone to help them with their case, and the familiarity of that spark between her and Frank had felt almost like relief. She knew that he had been in love with her for a long time, and going to bed with him had felt natural. He'd been good, and he wasn't an asshole, and she could imagine herself with him. They would solve cases together, they would be a team.

And, she had realized, they would die young, too. Even the euphoria of her burgeoning relationship with Frank wasn't enough to raise her spirits for long or to stop herself from hating the sight of her own reflection. Nothing in her life was anything like she had expected, and Frank—and every other one of them, to some lesser degree—was just a paler reflection of what she truly wanted. Of who she truly wanted.

She hated the thought of working with guys like Jake, backstabbers and cheats who were willing to use her to get to what they wanted. She hated the thought of working with guys like Michael, conceited and vain and entitled. And, when she was lying on the ground, the cold creeping over her as blood gushed from the bullet wound, she realized she couldn't work with Frank either, not like this.

Then she realized that the prospect of dying wasn't really so terrible anymore.

The counselor her father insisted that she see after the shooting was very concerned about that, and Nancy learned to not mention it, to not talk about it, to claim ignorance whenever it came up again. During her rehabilitation her entire world had shrunk down to Hannah and her father and the therapy sessions, and all of it, every single terrible decision she had made, seemed to have stemmed from the moment she had chosen to attend Wilder.

The medical leave turned into the rest of the semester off. She withdrew from the college entirely and it felt like a tremendous weight off her shoulders. George didn't return her calls, but then Nancy almost never left a message. She had no idea how the fuck to say she was sorry for not being there for her friends, and apologizing now just because she was lonely and miserable and at rock bottom felt like the coward's way out. She had taken everything and utterly fucked it up, and there were days when it was almost impossible to get out of bed, to remember what her life had been and everything she had thought it would be.

She had found the nerve, the summer she reconnected with Ned, to call Bess. She and Bess had been drifting apart before the blowup with George, and Bess had sided with her cousin; she accepted Nancy's apology easily enough, but there was still a distance in her voice. Her life was different now, and Bess had channeled all her energy and creativity into pursuing a career as an actress, learning on the road, taking small roles and acting workshops on the side. George was determined to finish her degree at Wilder, and when Nancy tentatively asked what had happened with the baby, Bess reluctantly admitted that the choice had been taken out of George's hands; she had lost the pregnancy at eight weeks, and her relationship with Will had disintegrated soon after.

Apologizing to George had taken more effort, a lot more effort. Bess had acted as intermediary for a while, and once George finally agreed that she would talk to Nancy, Nancy had spent what felt like hours pouring it all out: how sorry she was, how terrible she had felt when she had heard George's last message, how she hated that the three of them had drifted so far apart. George had been cautious, a little distant, but she had agreed when Nancy had said they should get together and have a meal sometime, catch up with each other. That vague date had never materialized, though.

Until now.

"Babe? You okay?"

Nancy's lips tighten as she reaches for her clutch and tosses the keychain in, finding the lipstick she wanted. "Yeah, just one more minute," she calls back.

Reconnecting with Ned... her therapist, who had still been seeing her at the beginning of that summer, had cautioned her to maintain her independence, to make sure she still had her support system in place just in case things didn't work out with him again. However, she had been delighted that Nancy was going to take it slow this time, to make sure it was the right choice for both of them before they took the next step. What her therapist didn't know was that Nancy had it figured out. Their breakup hadn't set her free; it had trapped her. And she wasn't going to give up on him, not after a week or a month or a year. She was going to fight for him, the way she wished she had fought for him before.

And she loves him, she has always loved him, and the depth and intensity of that bond between them has gone a long way toward helping heal her. But things are still strained between her and her other two best friends, and until it's resolved—and it will break her heart if Bess and George are out of her life forever, another victim of that miserable time at Wilder—it will eat away at her.

Ned's dark eyes travel up and down her body, slowly, and she feels herself clench a little in response. Some mornings she still looks down at her engagement ring and thinks she must be dreaming. He's actually said he'll spend the rest of his life with her. It feels impossible. It feels like Christmas morning.

"If we didn't have to get there soon," he murmurs, shaking his head. "You look fantastic, Nan."

"And you look great, sweetheart," she replies, reaching up to needlessly adjust his tie. "Ready to go smile and shake hands and make small talk for hours?"

They slip out of the room together and join hands as they walk down to the elevator. "As long as I'll be rewarded accordingly when we get back tonight."

"Mmm." They smile politely at the older couple already on the elevator when they enter the car. As they descend to the lobby, she stands up on her tiptoes, cupping her hand around his ear to keep her whisper private. "I was thinking I could ride you and the strap-on tonight."

Ned slips an arm around her waist, casually, but he pulls her hard against his side. "Now that's all I'm going to be thinking about today," he whispers directly into her ear, barely loud enough for her to hear. "Mmm, your cunt all wet and tight around me while you let that dildo ream your hot little ass..."

She clenches hard this time, sighing out a little moan. She knows she's flushed under her makeup, and she fans herself a little when the car reaches the lobby and they get off. "Exactly," she murmurs, and adjusts his tie again. She nips at his earlobe and whispers, "My tits bouncing while I slide up and down your cock..."

Ned's fingers tighten hard against her side. "If we don't get out of this hotel in the next five seconds, I'm dragging you upstairs and telling your aunt you came down with the flu. The kind of flu that only responds to a good two-hour boning."

"Two hours." She giggles. "My, aren't you optimistic."

"For you, baby?" He raises his hand, hailing them a cab. "Especially with everything you've wanted to do lately? I would _love_ to lock you in that room and spend the entire day acting out every single one of your dirty fantasies. Because you are sexy as holy _hell_ , baby."

"And all yours?" she asks, as she slides into the backseat. "Anything else you have on your list?"

"Maybe," he says, with a little smile. "But then we have to save _something_ for our wedding night."

Greenhouse 36 is a tapas restaurant with a spectacular view of the city, and Eloise has reserved a room for their party. It's informal, but her father and Fenton Hardy are there just before it starts, punctual as always. Nancy is thankful that conversation turned to more neutral topics during the cab ride, or else, she's sure, her nipples would still be hard-tipped against her dress.

"Nancy! Always lovely to see you," Fenton says, taking her hand. "I could always count on you to keep my boys in line."

She chuckles and shakes her head. "Well, the least I can do is try. I suppose they're off saving the world at the moment?"

"Probably," Fenton chuckles. "Good afternoon, Ned."

"Good afternoon, sir."

Emily Terner shows up, her friends Crystal and Lindsay in tow. Campbell talked a few of his Omega Chi brothers into coming with him, though, thankfully, the one who tried to feel her up isn't one of them. Mel comes in half an hour later, dragging a hand through her wavy auburn hair. Seth's making small talk with the other grownups and everyone around Nancy's age, except herself and Ned, is holding a martini or wine glass. After all she drank the night before, Nancy wasn't really sober until they met Eloise and Seth for brunch, and when he sees her turning down liquor in favor of soda, Ned does the same.

Mel's bright green eyes are appreciative when Nancy introduces her to Ned. "Ned, this is Melanie Harris, and Mel, this is Ned Nickerson, my _fiancé_ —so you can take that look _right off_ your face."

"Hey!" Mel says defensively, holding her hands up, but her eyes are sparkling. "Looking is free, right? It's touching that's extra. Pleasure to meet you, Ned," she croons, offering her hand.

"And it's great to meet you, Mel. So Nancy says you helped her with some really interesting cases...?"

Mel takes the bait immediately, settling down with her plate of calamari. She dips a bite into the marinara sauce and closes her eyes happily. "Mmm. I did, and let me just say for the record that my boss told me again last week that he'd give his eyeteeth to have you on staff. Made the rest of us feel great, let me tell you," she teases Nancy. "But seriously. After what you did, you are welcome to come back anytime."

Emily walks by with a glass of red wine, and her eyes light up. "Oooh! Yeah, Nan, you definitely are. And next time stay long enough to come visit me in the Hamptons. Maybe _this_ time we'll have a nice relaxing vacation..."

They're in New York, surrounded by natives, and when Campbell joins in, Nancy has to smile to herself. They all insist that Nancy and Ned need to visit, sooner rather than later, as often as they can, and that's when Mel says that she really should think about the offer.

Campbell pipes up. "Yeah, Ned—Will over here is working with Anderson and Murray at this big-deal consulting firm, and they keep trying to get me to jump ship. Hey, Will, you guys still hiring?"

And Nancy, that small smile on her face, glances up and sees her father and the expression he wears. He had always thought that in some way she would follow in his footsteps, and she hates that college didn't work out, hates for his sake that the thought of going back makes her stomach twist with anxiety. The shooting didn't change only her; her father had been at her bedside every time she woke up that first week, alone or with Hannah, and he still asks her to check in with him whenever she's on a case, especially if she'll be at Ned's instead of coming back home. She can see him trying to imagine what he'll do if she does move away, to New York or somewhere else, with Ned.

She excuses herself to visit the restroom and on the way back lingers at the large picture window, the view of the city. It's always moving, always exhilarating, and from the first time she came to visit her aunt, she's loved it. She knows Ned does too.

But their life is in Chicago, their work is in Chicago.

She glances over and though she didn't see him approach, she's unsurprised to find Ned standing beside her, gazing down, his hands in his pockets. She slips her arm around his waist, leaning against his side, and he sighs out a little chuckle before he wraps his arm around her too.

"I'm beginning to think Eloise organized this whole thing to get us to consider moving here," he murmurs, his lips brushing the crown of her head.

"Mmm. Maybe."

She lingers there with him, and she's just reluctantly realizing that they need to get back to the party when she turns to see her father coming toward them.

"It's getting pretty crazy in there. I don't know if you had your hearts set on any more chicken wings..."

They all smile, and she takes a step forward to wrap her father in a hug. "I'm glad you could make it."

"Anything for my little girl." Carson's eyes are warm when they rest on his daughter, and more cautious when he looks at Ned. "I do always love to find reasons to visit New York, but I love getting home even more."

When they get back in, Campbell and Melanie are laughing about something together, and Nancy shoots her fiancé a brief triumphant look. Eloise urges all the guests to find glasses before she raises her own, looking over at the two of them.

"To Nancy and Ned. May their life together be long and full of happiness."

"Hear, hear!"

Campbell mentions that they're thinking of going out after, and when Mel urges Nancy and Ned to join them, Eloise shoos them out, telling them to go have fun. Nancy glances at Ned, and reluctantly agrees to one drink, recognizing Mel's unspoken plea for them to come along. Besides, it's been a while since she's seen Mel, and Mel has always been great company.

"So," Mel says, once she's given directions to the cab driver and sat back. "I wasn't joking about that job. Whatever you've got going on in Chicago, you know it's not nearly as busy or as fun as here."

"And maybe I like that," Nancy replies with an impish grin, her hand finding Ned's.

Mel shakes her head, her eyes bright. "You have the bug, Drew. And the skill."

Nancy shrugs. "And I really like my job in Chicago."

Mel turns to Ned, her eyebrows raised. "What about you, Ned? You _really like_ your job in Chicago too?" She winks.

Ned shrugs. "I do," he replies. "I do really love my job. I love New York, too."

Mel sighs at their answers. "You're no fun. At least promise to come visit a little more often, okay? That reminds me... how long are you in town?"

Ned's hand squeezes Nancy's gently. "Our flight is Tuesday, but we're pretty well booked," she says apologetically. "If you're looking for some extra help, the Hardy brothers might be an option..."

Ned manages to keep his expression neutral. Mel shrugs, launching into an account of the guy she's been tailing off and on for the last week, and when she describes the way she was able to sneak into the men's locker room to keep an eye on him, she leaves Nancy and Ned dissolved in laughter.

Campbell's gaze lights up when the three of them meet him and his group outside the club. "Isn't this the life, Nickerson," he says with a grin. "Beautiful girl on your arm, Saturday night in the best city in the country."

Nancy rewards him with a grin as they walk into the club together. "And don't you forget it," she says, tucking her arm through Ned's.

She orders a rum and coke, happy when the rum isn't too strong, and watches with some amusement as Campbell tries out his game on Mel. Mel's been working long enough as a PI to be licensed, and she's good at separating her work life from her personal one. When she clocks out she's ready to have a good time, to hit a new restaurant or club or bar, to hit the gym or do her errands. Being around her had been good for Nancy, in the time after, when she was still trying to figure out how to get back into her life, when her impulse had been to let the work swallow her.

Being with Ned has saved her from that so many times. She values what they have together too much to let her work eat away at their time together, and while he's encouraged her to involve him in her work when she can, she knows it's because he loves spending time with her, because it reminds both of them of the way it used to be, when he was her partner on cases.

Mel agrees to dance with one of Campbell's friends, and Campbell turns to Nancy and Ned at the bar, his expression as serious as it ever gets. "You always have had great taste in friends," he tells Nancy. "She seems like a lot of fun."

There's the faintest question in his voice, and Nancy nods. "She is. She's great. You aren't asking for her number, are you?"

Campbell gives Nancy a cocky grin. "If I can't get _her_ to give it to me, I don't deserve it," he chuckles.

Nancy and Ned hit the floor for a few dances before she cups his cheek, gazing up into his eyes. "I think you and I have something we need to do, back in our room," she says, her lips curving up, and then presses her lips to his ear. "And my cunt is dripping wet in anticipation, baby."

He grabs her hand and leads her back to the bar almost immediately, and she laughs, her face flushed a little, his eyes dark with desire.

"You're leaving already?" Mel says in disappointment when they say their goodbyes to the rest of the group. "Come _on_ , it's fucking Saturday night. There's this really great bar a few streets over..."

"I am definitely up for that," Campbell says. "But, Melanie, you may as well give up—when Nickerson gets that look on his face..." He shakes his head. "They used to vanish up into his room for _hours_."

Mel raises her eyebrow appreciatively. "Hours, huh," she says, glancing between the two of them. "And I've _always wanted_ to visit the hotel where you're staying..."

The sparkle in Mel's eye tells Nancy that she's joking—mostly, although Nancy's pretty sure that if she called the bluff, Mel probably would follow through—but both Ned and Campbell's eyes alight with interest. Ned's fingers tighten in Nancy's and Campbell half-desperately, half-casually mentions that his father owns the hotel and if she wants to see the inside of a room, maybe test out the mattress in one, that could definitely be arranged...

"It was great meeting you, Mel, and we'll see you at the wedding?" Ned asks.

"With bells on," Mel promises. "Just book me early. And get me in touch with the maid of honor because we are totally going to have a bachelorette party that will live in fucking _infamy_ for you, Drew."

Nancy chuckles, feeling pleasantly lightheaded as she and Ned head out to the street to hail a cab. "Thanks for not fucking that up, Nickerson."

" _Moi_?" Ned says, with false wounded innocence, as he opens the cab door for her. "I would _never_. Besides, I told you, you walk over to me with another girl's hand in yours and ask me? I am _on it._ "

He's told her before, one night when they were both buzzing after a party, him definitely moreso than she, that he was offered a threesome once and turned it down, but it's always been on his list. "And I've told _you_ ," she replies lightly, "that if you and Johnny Depp ever want to double-team me, I am _on it_."

He leans over to nip at her earlobe. "And if I see another man inside you I'll destroy him," he growls, cupping her side.

"And if I see another woman's hands all over you, I'll kill her," Nancy replies with a little moan, running her fingers through his hair.

"Oh, no, baby. She'll be all over _you_."

Nancy wrinkles her nose. "And, I'm sorry, but if Johnny's there, he's gonna be inside me, baby, not you."

"Yeah, I love you, but I wouldn't fuck Johnny Depp for you," he replies. "He is a damn good-looking man, though."

"Mmm. Definitely."

"And, Mel..." Ned lets his voice trail off.

"Wants you," Nancy replies mildly. "And I'd kill her if she touched you."

Ned sighs good-naturedly. "Hmm. Good thing we got that strap-on, huh," he growls into her ear. " _I_ get to double-team you. Fill up that tight little cunt and ass while I'm fucking you."

She lets her fingertips drift gently over the front of his pants, and he hisses as she brushes against his erection. "And my panties are fucking _soaked_ at the thought," she moans into his ear.

As soon as the elevator doors close behind them at the hotel he has her pressed against the wall, his hips tight against hers, and she moans when he brushes against her already-swollen clit. He tastes like scotch, his tongue slipping against hers, and she buries her fingers in his hair, gasping against his mouth, his kiss brutal, possessive.

He doesn't tug her by her hair again, but he does lift her, holding her to him, their hips tight as he carries her down the hallway to their room. As soon as the door is closed behind them she's yanking at his shirt, so hard she almost pops off buttons in her haste.

They get their clothes off as fast as they can, and she lets out a little moan when she pushes her panties down, the join of her thighs already wet. "Mmm," Ned murmurs approvingly, backing her against the bed. "Yeah, baby, so gorgeous."

She slips backward onto the bed, gazing up at him low-lidded, watching as he finds the strap-on, the condoms and the lube. "You better not be wearing a condom when you're inside me," she mock-warns him, knowing he has no intention of putting one on to fuck her. "I want to feel every hot, hard inch of you, baby."

"Oh, you will," he growls, and she brings her knees up as he slips the condom over his fingers and lubes them up. "Mmm, I can smell how wet you are for me... you gonna flick the bean for me again?"

She shakes her head. "Maybe when you're inside me," she begins, swallowing hard when he barely rims her tight asshole, " _fuck_... but if I touch my clit I'm gonna come like two seconds later and I want to last." She shivers as he works his fingers a little deeper, relaxing her, stretching her to prepare her for the dildo. "Although judging by that hard-on it's gonna take you three seconds."

Ned chuckles. "Well, it kinda acts like a cock ring, so I think I can make it to six seconds," he teases her. "Besides, baby, I'm not gonna stop fucking you until you scream."

Her hips rock a little as he drips more lube onto his fingers, then works them inside her again. "God... and you're cool with this, baby?"

He laughs. "Uh, I'm the one who bought the strap-on, remember?" he reminds her. "Fuck yeah, Nan. I can't wait to feel your cunt squeezing tight around me while you take it in the ass. And I fucking _love_ watching you ride me. Watching you get off on my cock..."

She moans a little, rocking again. "Then strap that fucking thing on, baby. I'm gonna come out of my skin if I don't feel you inside me _right now_."

She's panting her breath back as he slips the dildo on, and she drags a pillow down to the middle of the bed, her inner thighs already slick in anticipation. "Here," she says, pulling him toward the bed, as he rips a new condom wrapper open. "I'll take care of it, lay down."

He moves onto the bed, his hips propped up by the pillow, and she rolls the condom onto the dildo, then runs her hand between her legs and strokes the slick proof of her arousal over the condom. "Mmm, fuck yeah," Ned murmurs, watching. Just for good measure she puts a large drop of lube on her fingertips and strokes it up and down the dildo, letting him watch her fondle the rubber cock strapped beneath his own.

"Nan," he says warningly. " _Now_."

"Sounds like _someone_ got a little overconfident," she teases him, straddling his upper thighs. "You sure you're gonna last? That the first time you're all the way inside my tight, wet cunt you're not gonna lose it?"

"If you don't want me to you better start fucking me _right now_ , Drew."

She squats over him, his eyes glowing with surprise and desire as he watches her, their hands joined to help her keep her balance. She fits the tip of his cock just inside her, angling the dildo so it's just fitted in her ass. "Mmmm," she moans, taking it slow. " _Mmmm_. I am the luckiest, most spoiled girl in the world," she tells him, her eyes low-lidded as she gazes at him.

"Oh?"

"I get to take every inch of your hot, gorgeous cock the rest of my life," she moans.

"Tell me how it feels, baby," he growls, cupping her hips, watching her slowly slide down his cock.

"So fucking _good_ ," she replies, shivering as he reaches up to cup her breasts, to run his thumbs over her hard nipples. "Mmm, God, you fill me up, baby, no one else could ever feel so fucking amazing... I cream myself just thinking about it."

She's taken almost all of him when he squeezes her nipples, and she shivers. "Harder, baby," she breathes.

"You like that?" he says, pinching her nipples harder, and she clenches around him, tipping her head back. "Yeah, baby, let me hear it."

He pinches her again and she starts panting, sliding down until he's fully seated inside her, until she's taken the full length of the dildo, and when Ned brushes her clit she lets out a sobbing cry.

"Oh God..."

"That good? You feel so fucking good," he groans. "God, like a fucking wet dream come true."

She begins to inch herself up, her thighs trembling. "So good," she mumbles, and oh God, the relief she feels when she slides up the dildo is immense.

"Yeah, Nan," he urges her. "You love riding the strap-on, baby, you love taking it in the ass."

She has a small wicked grin on her lips when she opens her eyes. "I do," she tells him, letting out a little moan as she rises until only the heads are still inside her. "Feels so good... so _dirty._ "

"You bet it is," he growls. "So dirty and so fucking hot." He hisses as she slides down his cock again. "I'm gonna smack that hot little ass... such a bad girl."

"Do it," she begs, sobbing out a cry when he rubs her clit again, spanking her ass hard. "Mmm, _yeah_ ," she cries out, her cunt clenching hard around him, tightening around the dildo as a wave of arousal crashes over her, leaving her light-headed. "Yeah, baby, _harder_."

He spanks her again, harder, still working her clit, and lets out a little groan as a spike of pleasure races up her spine, tightening her core. "Mmm, God I love when your cunt is so wet," he groans. "So fucking good. I love to spank that tight little ass of yours red, you dirty girl... Mmm, faster, baby."

She rocks down onto him, letting out a little squeal as she takes him hilt-deep, as his cock and the dildo stretch her sensitive flesh, leaving her throbbing. "When we get home," she gasps out, sliding back up again, her hips trembling as he thumbs her clit even harder, "maybe I could... lay on the couch, let you deep-throat me that way..."

Ned lets out an anguished moan, his hips shifting in answer, at the thought of her gagging on his cock again. "Like last night?"

She nods frantically, circling her hips as she sinks to him again, and when he spanks her again she sobs out a cry. "I love when you dominate me," she moans, cupping her breasts, pinching her nipples hard. "Order me around, yank my hair... leave me bruised and sore and _marked_. Yours."

"And I love when you tug my hair, when I'm eating out that sweet little cunt," he groans, his hips rocking up a little. "When you bite me, when you drag your nails down my back when I'm pounding into you, fucking that tight pussy."

"Mmm," she moans, bouncing up and down on top of him, the dildo and his cock filling her, so tight inside her. "Mmm, oh _God_ ," she sobs loudly as she feels her arousal begin to build, tight against her belly, her face flushing. "Feels so _fucking good_ ," she squeals, shuddering as he rocks his hips up under hers. "Oh fuck hurts so good."

"Harder, baby," he begs, as she tugs frantically at her nipples, her breasts trembling. "Harder, harder, I want every inch of my cock in that hot slick cunt... _yeah_." He spanks her and she shudders, clenching hard around him again, and his eyes roll back as she screams.

"Louder," he growls, and he reaches up and tangles his fingers in her hair, tugging hard, and she gasps in a breath to cry out again. His nail finds the tip of her clit and she screams in pleasure, fucking rutting against him, her thrusts hard and desperate, and God, she can hear how wet she is with every bounce. He tugs her hair again, and her scream turns into a burbling cry as he switches off, his fingers slick with her arousal as he spanks her other ass cheek, his other hand working her clit with a fluttering rhythm.

"Come," he begs her, panting. "Come, baby."

The phone besides the bed starts ringing and she's slick with sweat, lightheaded with arousal, whining through her teeth as she fucks him hard, circling her hips at the deepest point of every thrust, and when she finally comes, her cunt throbbing and fucking dripping wet around his cock, she screams, rubbing the balls of her thumbs over her sensitive nipples, jerking with every flick of his thumb against her clit. She sinks to him, shaking, moaning loudly as he thrusts his hips up under hers, shifting the dildo, pressing his cock even deeper into her. When he comes with a long pleased groan she sighs in relief, and even though she usually stays on top of him after, she uses the last bit of her strength to pull herself off him, rising off the dildo, and she almost sobs at the pleasure when it's finally out of her.

She's lightheaded as she moves off the bed, still panting her breath back as she closes the bathroom door behind her. Sweat is drying cool on her skin and she feels so fucking sensitive that the cold of the toilet against her ass makes her whimper. She wipes her thighs, then reaches for cream to soothe the soreness from riding the dildo.

Her chin jerks up when she hears a knock at the door, and Ned mutters some profanity, doubtless scrambling to get the dildo out of sight, to find his shorts. She sighs in relief as she puts the cap back on the cream, then scrubs her hands before starting to remove her makeup.

"Nan, baby? Can you come here?" Ned calls.

"Just a sec," she calls back, wiping off her smeared mascara before she wraps herself in a towel and leaves the bathroom. "You okay?"

A very embarrassed-looking girl, wearing one of the hotel's polo shirts, is standing at their door. Ned, his hair mussed, his broad well-muscled chest gleaming with sweat, is holding their door open.

"Rachelle here just wanted to make sure I wasn't murdering you just now." Ned's trying to keep his face straight and failing utterly. "Seems our neighbors called the desk."

"Oh." Nancy flushes a little. "Oh, no, I'm sorry, everything's... okay."

"Better than okay," Ned mutters, his lips curving up a little, and Nancy shoves his shoulder, mock glaring at him.

Rachelle nods. "Okay, I'm really sorry, just keep it down," she says, all in a quick embarrassed rush, and turns on her heel.

Ned's grinning broadly as he lets the door drift shut. "Mmm. It's not a real vacation until I'm fucking you so hard someone thinks I'm killing you."

Nancy smacks him lightly again, shaking her head. "Yeah," he growls. "I know I'm being a bad boy, you want to punish me?" he asks, pushing his shorts down at the back, and she's momentarily mesmerized by the sight of his bare, magnificent ass.

"You bet," she murmurs, smacking him smartly, and is amused to see the desire in his gaze as he stares at her. "Let me see... the shift change is probably in about an hour..."

"You think you'll be ready to go again by then, Drew?"

She drops the towel. "Well, no more anal for a week, _at least_... but otherwise, you think _you'll_ be ready to go again?"

He nods, his gaze dark as he traces it down and up her naked body. "Hell yes, baby. God, I'm the luckiest bastard in the world... to have such a hot piece of ass warming my bed."

She chuckles, slipping under the covers. "Talk about a hot ass... _mmmmm_. I want you on top next time so I can dig my nails into that thing while you're pounding into me."

He turns the light off before he joins her in bed. "I _love_ the way you think, Drew."


	4. Chapter 4

Nancy glances over at Ned as they wait for Eloise to answer her knock, smoothing the skirt of her flowered sundress. "Are you sure I look okay?"

"Nan, you look amazing," he says, putting his phone away. He tucks a strand of red-gold hair behind her ear. "Just relax, okay? Everything's gonna be all right."

She shakes her head with a little frown. "I feel sick when I think about tonight," she admits in a soft mutter.

He presses his lips to her forehead. "It's gonna be okay, baby."

Eloise opens the door when he's pulling back, and glances between the two of them, a welcoming smile on her face. "You guys do a lot of sightseeing yesterday?"

"Mmm-hmm," Nancy says with a little nod, while Ned stifles a laugh. After the new exhibit at the Guggenheim, they had gone to the Museum of Sex. Nancy feels sorry for their housekeeper. When they woke the sheets smelled of sex, sweat, and flavored lube.

"So," Eloise says, once she's offered drinks and she and Nancy are sitting at the table. "What do you already have figured out?"

"Uh... not much," Nancy admits, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Date? Venue? Reception, budget, number of guests?" Eloise starts ticking things off on her fingers.

The email notification goes off on Ned's phone. "Be right back, babe," he says, gazing down at it, and she glances after him with a little smile on her face. She should've bet him how long it would take him to get bored with wedding talk. Although it's Monday and his workmates probably really _are_ contacting him about projects and clients.

"Uh... we don't know when; we haven't really set a date," Nancy admits. "Probably at Dad's church in River Heights? And I'm sure we'll have a reception, somewhere..."

Eloise chuckles at Nancy's wrinkled brow. "Well, I picked up a few wedding magazines yesterday..."

"You really like this stuff, don't you?" Nancy says as Eloise stacks _Brides, Modern Bride,_ and the _Vogue_ bridal issue on the table between them. "It wouldn't be so hard but we work a lot—and don't tell Ned I said this but I think he doesn't really care what we do, not really. I mean, the whole tux and long white dress thing, yeah..."

"Speaking of, dress?"

Nancy shrugs helplessly. "Won't that really depend on the season?"

"If it's inside...?"

"Yeah," Nancy agrees. "Yeah, I guess it won't matter. I don't know."

"Except that you don't want to be freezing in a strapless dress in December," Eloise says. "So you really need to set a date."

Nancy glances in Ned's direction. Seth comes over to kiss Eloise on the cheek and wish them a good day before he heads out, and Ned is tapping buttons on his cell, responding to an email. "Mmm... yeah."

Eloise's brow furrows a little. "Look, did you guys have breakfast?"

"Not really," Nancy admits. "A cup of coffee."

"How about if you and I go grab something," Eloise says, patting Nancy's hand.

"Um..."

"Ned, Nancy and I need to go run an errand. You okay hanging out here? I'm sure you can find ESPN."

Ned glances up from his phone. "Sorry—you need to go out? Yeah, that's cool, I need to answer some emails." He gives Nancy an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, sweetheart. It's just some stuff from that d—that conference call Thursday, and no one told me about it Friday..."

"Put out your fires, babe," Nancy tells him, gathering her purse and leaning down to give him a kiss on the forehead. "Want us to pick up some lunch for you while we're out?"

"Actually, Ned—want to plan to meet us at Roseli? Twelve-thirty?" Eloise asks.

"He won't last that long," Nancy tells her aunt with a little smirk.

"Hey! I do have _some_ self-control," Ned says, with a little grin. Nancy flushes slightly in answer.

"I've got snacks in the cupboard," Eloise tells her niece's fiancé. "Don't burn the place down, and we'll see you at the deli."

The weather is gloriously sunny, and though Eloise has the magazines with her, she doesn't say anything until the cab lets them off at Central Park. Parents with strollers are idling along the paths, while nearby the tour groups pass in waves, heading for the Met.

They pass the Alice in Wonderland statues and Eloise finds an unoccupied bench under some shade. "Nan... are you two afraid to set a date?"

Nancy shakes her head. "No! No, we're not. It's just... well, it hasn't been that long since we decided to get married, not _really_ , and, I mean, I've looked at some magazines, started... making a list..." She shrugs.

"And Bess and George aren't helping? I'm surprised; I thought Bess did this kind of thing practically in her sleep..."

Nancy looks down. "Uh... no. I'm actually... well, I'm meeting up with them tonight... we kind of drifted apart, when I was... shot..."

Eloise sits up, her gaze intent on her niece. "Oh. Oh, I'm sorry, sweetheart."

Nancy forces a smile. "A lot of things changed, and..." She shrugs. Talking about it has gotten a little easier, but it's still difficult for her. "Anyway. Jan—she's with Ned's best friend Mike, and she's been really helpful, but we're all so busy, and..." And it all comes out of her in a rush. "And I want it to be _perfect_ and I don't know what to _do_ , I really want Bess and George to be a part of it, and I always thought that the three of us would be doing this together, planning all this together. And tonight... I'm so afraid they'll tell me they don't want to be involved, and I don't know what I would do... oh God, I just..."

She gives her aunt an abbreviated version of the story. Eloise saw the three of them together on trips to New York before the Wilder debacle, and she knows how close they once were. "I mean, for so long, it was the four of us... and I hate knowing that I screwed all this up," she admits.

"Well, it sounds like you just grew apart," Eloise says, tentatively. "It happens, at college, especially early on. You're figuring out who you are. It's tough for anyone."

Nancy smiles sadly. "I thought I knew who we were," she says. "Best friends who would always be there for each other. But... I wasn't. Not when they needed me."

"You've told them you're sorry," Eloise says comfortingly. "Now it's up to them. You need to stop worrying about it, Nan... and I know that's easier said than done."

"Yeah." Nancy touches her engagement ring. "It is really hard."

"So you're reluctant to set a date... because you're waiting to see if Bess and George can help you plan it. Not because you're not sure about getting married."

"Oh, we're sure about getting married." Nancy smiles. "We're so sure that it doesn't even really matter when we set a date, you know?"

"Obviously you've never met a couple who broke up after an eight-year engagement," Eloise says wryly. "I'm guessing there's no particular urgency because the wedding night is not going to be a surprise."

"Well, it might be." Nancy shrugs, a small grin on her face. "Depends on whether there's anything we haven't tried by then."

Eloise shakes her head. "I did not hear that," she says, chuckling. "I so didn't hear that. I'm sure my brother is scandalized by all this."

"I've basically been living at Ned's place for practically a year," Nancy shrugs. "If he didn't know already..."

"I get it."

Nancy takes one of the magazines and slides it off the pile, idly flipping through it. "So, I don't know... next summer should give us plenty of time, I think."

Eloise sighs happily. "Oh, a summer wedding would be so lovely... I went to one in the Hamptons a couple of weeks ago. It was so beautiful, and I know around here, especially if you do want a summer wedding, you have to book the venue and the reception site quick."

Nancy chuckles. "Ned and I were just saying the other day—we thought half the reason you invited us out here was to try to convince us to move to New York."

Eloise shrugs. "Would I love to have you two close by? Of course I would," she says lightly. "It's hard to make it in the city, though, I'll be honest."

"Mel keeps telling me her boss would love me to work for them."

"And what does Ned say?"

Nancy shrugs. "I don't know... we haven't really talked about it, you know? We haven't even set a date yet, Ned just signed a six-month agreement on his place, our work and our _lives_ are in Chicago... but I do love being here."

Eloise smiles. "Hmm, just imagine it. A summer wedding in the Hamptons, a tiny first apartment in the city..."

Nancy laughs at her aunt's dreamy expression. "Okay, _you_ just got married not too long ago," she reminds Eloise. "How are you not sick of talking about dresses and flowers and everything? Plus, a wedding in the _Hamptons_? Ned and I... well, Dad's offered to cover practically everything but I don't want to put all this on him..."

"If you set your heart on it, I'm sure I could call in a few favors, get you a good deal," Eloise says. "Plus, if I know Carson, and I _do_... he wants to do this for you, Nan. Let him do it."

Nancy puts the magazine back on the stack, looking down. "It's just that he paid for my time at Wilder and then I left and... I don't know, in the back of his head I feel like he's still disappointed in me, that I wasted it..."

"I think he'd prefer a few semesters of classes to a perpetual student who keeps racking up degrees without getting a job," Eloise says, patting Nancy's hand. "Besides... is being a PI what you want to do with your life?"

"Yeah," Nancy says with a smile. "I love it. I mean, some cases are more exciting than others... but I love doing this."

"Then why worry about it?"

Nancy shakes her head. "You know, I was in therapy for _months_... and it was all about, 'How did that make you feel,' 'What do you wish you'd done.' I should've just called you."

"It's a knack. Teachers are half therapists anyway." Eloise picks up one of the magazines and flips through to the gowns. "So, you want to give Ned a little surprise on your wedding night, huh...?"

Eloise has an impish grin on her face when Nancy shoots her a look of wide-eyed innocence. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Well, even if you only come back for a visit, maybe you can pick yourself out a little honeymoon present from me at one of those really high-end lingerie stores I've always wanted to go into."

Nancy chuckles. "Oh, I'm sure we can get Ned to occupy himself for a few hours this afternoon... especially if he has any inkling that that's what we're doing."

\--

"Nickerson!"

"Hey," Ned replies, heading for the stairs just outside Eloise's apartment. It's time for lunch and his stomach has been complaining loudly about that fact for the past twenty minutes. "What's up?"

"Well, first off," Campbell says, " _officially_ , I think I'm supposed to be stern about the fact that you guys had the front desk called on you _how_ many times?"

Ned chuckles. "Uh, I'm not sure... but let me just say that they were all very courteous," he replies. The girls had all either been disdainful or bashfully curious. Most of the guys had given Ned thumbs-up signs when he had answered the door half-naked, gleaming with sweat, usually with the mark of Nancy's fingernails or teeth on him.

"Unofficially... Jesus Christ, man, you are one incredibly lucky bastard. What's the secret?"

"That redheads are fucking out of control in the sack?" Ned suggests, ducking the answering stare from another pedestrian as he heads to the nearest subway entrance. "And she's definitely a natural redhead."

"Mmm. Mel's hair is reddish," Campbell muses aloud.

"God, don't remind me. I swear..." Ned shakes his head, putting the image out of it. He's about to meet Nancy and her aunt for lunch, and he doesn't need to be thinking about Mel trailing kisses down his fiancée's naked body, watching her writhe and moan as Mel works her way lower...

Nope. Definitely doesn't need to be thinking about that.

"Anyway," Campbell says, after Ned clears his throat. "Yeah, I talked to Will a little more, and he says that based on your experience, they might have something that could work for you. I'll forward you the email he sent me. So are you seriously thinking about moving here?"

"I don't know," Ned admits, handing over the money for a subway ticket. The station is loud, the crowd bustling around him, trying to make it back to work before their lunch breaks end, tourists caught up in the hubbub and lugging giant shopping bags, young parents and whining toddlers, and it's chaos and he has to press his phone to his ear to hear Campbell, but it gives him a rush the way it always has. "I'd have to talk to Nan about it... but it can't hurt to look at the options, y'know?"

"Definitely not, man. And maybe we could double date sometime? Get them a little drunk, see what happens?"

Ned chuckles. "Oh, I know exactly what would happen. Get her too drunk and I'd have to tuck her in; get her just drunk enough and they'd put on a little show for us and then lead us home, separately."

"You're killing me, Nickerson. Killing my dreams, man."

"Oh, don't get me wrong... I'm just as disappointed as you are. But if I had to pick, her or some other girl who wouldn't think twice... I'd still pick Nan."

"You've got it bad, my friend."

"Wouldn't have it any other way," Ned chuckles.

\--

Nancy's on her second martini when Frank and Joe show up.

And Ned has always thought that Nancy is gorgeous, since the first moment he set eyes on her, and she's only become more beautiful in the time he's known her—and he knows that's how they see her, as the gorgeous, assured, desirable woman she is. She smiles at Frank and Joe, and she didn't have so much to eat at lunchtime, and that means she has a fair amount of alcohol floating around unabated in her flat belly.

Ned shakes Joe's hand, then Frank's in greeting, trying to imagine how he'd feel if he walked into a bar to meet Nancy and Frank, knowing they were engaged... and he can't. Frank's smile seems easy enough, but Ned doesn't miss the way Frank's gaze flicks to Nancy's breasts when he's looking at her.

She slept with Frank. She had those long slender legs wrapped around him while he fucked her.

Ned shakes his head a little. How the hell did she not murder Jennifer? Just seeing Frank so close to his fiancée makes Ned feel twitchy.

Frank and Joe have just ordered their beers when Bess and George walk in, and as soon as Ned sees them he glances back at Nancy, a little cautiously, trying to gauge her reaction. Which is ridiculous. He's seen her in insanely stressful situations, with her life at stake, and when two of her best childhood friends walk in he's suddenly afraid for her.

But she's not who she was before, no matter how often they fall back on their old patterns. She's not the girl who used to visit him at Emerson, who had sleepovers with her pals Bess and George. Nancy, the girl who would never be pinned down, who was invincible, is gone, replaced by the girl he's going to marry, the girl whose chest bears a puckered scar, a circle of pale skin that sends a bolt of fear through his heart every time he sees it.

He reaches for her hand and squeezes it gently, and she shoots him a brief grateful smile before she faces her oldest friends.

"Hi."

Bess's face is a study in mingled anxiety and cautious hope. "Hi," she says, and glances over at Ned. "Congratulations, you two. I'm glad you're back together."

Ned dips his head. "Thanks. It's really great to see you again. You too, George."

"You both look amazing," Nancy says, her eyes almost feverishly bright as she glances between the cousins.

"You look really good too, Nan," George says, her voice a little quieter than usual. She's wearing a black t-shirt and a denim miniskirt, and maybe even a hint of makeup. Bess has lost some weight, too; he remembers Nancy's exasperation over Bess's perpetual and needless dieting, and now she's slim and confident, wearing what Ned assumes is a very stylish minidress.

"So. Anybody else as famished as I am?" Ned asks, to break the silence that falls between the three girls.

The six of them grab a table, and even though the fact that Hardy is within a hundred feet of Nancy is making Ned's skin crawl, the one thing he can count on the brothers to do is fill the silences. Bess gushes for a little while about the production she's currently in—Nancy had looked into getting tickets, but all of the performances they could have attended were sold out, and she didn't want the first time she saw Bess after so long to be on a stage—and George has another semester at Wilder before she'll be finished. Bess even sounds a little different, and almost manic in her eagerness to keep the conversation up. When the waiter comes by for their drink orders, Bess and George both order martinis, and the girls opt to split a lettuce-wrap appetizer.

"I just adore New York," Bess says, closing her eyes after the first sip of her martini. "I've been trying to convince George to move here and share an apartment with me once she graduates. Maybe you guys can help me."

George chuckles and shakes her head. "I don't know. I love to visit, but to be here all the time? It suits you, though."

"Frank and I have been thinking about trying to set up shop here too," Joe admits eagerly, ignoring Frank's glance in his direction. "Half the time we seem to find ourselves here anyway. And if I'd known you were here... well, I definitely would have found the time to come around more often."

Bess giggles and tosses her hair. "Really. Got any more lines, Hardy?"

"Plenty."

Bess and George excuse themselves and head to the ladies' room before the main courses arrive, and while Joe's trying to get the attention of their waiter so he can order another beer, Ned leans over to Nancy. "I noticed the place next door has a few pool tables," he murmurs into her ear. "You want me to get Frank and Joe over there so you three can talk? And you can just come over after."

"That's awfully sweet of you," Nancy murmurs back. "What's the catch?"

"Catch?"

"Yeah," she nods. "Like, what am I gonna have to do to you once we get back to our hotel room...?"

The Museum of Sex gave him far too many ideas in that regard, and he manages to stifle his libido long enough to murmur, "No catch."

"Mmm. And you'll be good?"

Ned glances across the table to see Frank just looking away from them. "Of course," he replies.

She sighs quietly. "Well... okay. But if I walk in and you have Frank in a sleeper hold... then you're sleeping on the couch tonight."

"There is no couch in our room," Ned replies after a beat.

"Exactly."

Their meals of citrus and spice-rubbed shrimp, pork, and chicken are all pronounced uniformly delicious, and halfway through Frank and Joe start talking about their latest case. Ned can tell Nancy's interested, but her eyes aren't glowing the way they would have before; she's not just biding her time to jump in with a suggestion or comment. It's only after George and Bess have commented on how that reminds them of other cases that she asks if they checked the broken lock for any signs of forced entry on the _other_ side, and the conversation after that becomes rapid and almost exuberant.

Once they've settled the tab, Ned glances across the table at the brothers. "So, I noticed there's a place nearby where we can shoot some pool. What do you say, guys?"

"Sounds great," Joe replies, and Frank nods. "We don't have to be up too early in the morning. Nan, Bess? George?"

"We'll be there in a few," Nancy says, giving them a smile. "Thought we might order another round of drinks first, but we'll be over there soon."

And then Ned finds himself alone with the two men who invited the woman he loves on the case that nearly got her killed, shelling out for table rental, keeping a pleasant smile on his face. They decide on eight-ball to start and Joe racks them up in the diamond-shaped frame, lifting it with a flourish.

"Been a long time since I've played pool," Frank comments, chalking his cue.

"Well then, I might have a chance," Ned comments, watching Joe stalk around the table. "I was glad you two were able to make it tonight."

"It was nice to catch up with Nancy, and the girls," Joe comments, his eyes on the cue. From Frank's mildly furrowed brow, Ned's pretty sure Frank realized what Ned did—that Nancy was barely talking at all, really, just asking questions, trying to draw George, and to a lesser degree Bess, out. But then Joe's always had a bit of a soft spot for Bess, and subtlety isn't often his strong suit.

"Yeah. It's been too long since we've seen Nancy," Frank says, his face almost carefully blank.

_I know,_ Ned wants to say. _I know all of it, so you don't have to play dumb._

"So I've heard on good authority you two might be able to answer a question for me," Ned says, taking his turn to line up a shot and sink a few.

"Sure," Frank says, shrugging. "If we can."

"About why, exactly, my fiancée has a scarred-up bullet hole in her chest." Ned doesn't look at either of them as he makes his shot, and to be honest he almost doesn't have to. Their expressions are still slack and pale once he glances up at them.

"It was one of those things," Joe says helplessly. "You've been on cases, you know how it is. None of us had any idea that guy had come in behind her..."

"And how long was she bleeding out on the ground before you realized something had happened?" Ned asks, that same carefully controlled tone in his voice.

Frank is the one who speaks up this time. "We... we didn't know. We got her to the hospital as soon as we could... but she's okay. She knew... she knew those were the risks going in."

Ned's smile is small, thin-lipped. "The same risk anyone in this city takes walking out on the street," he murmurs. "And, like you said... you never know, you never really know. Traffic light, drunk driver, aneurism, right? Nothing you can really do."

Joe nods, watching Frank line up his shot. "Yeah. I mean, it sucks, it's rough, but there it is."

"And I'm thankful that you _did_ get her to the hospital so quickly," Ned says, and he means it. He truly does. "She just had some bad luck that day, huh."

"Yeah." Frank bobs his head. "Could've happened to any of us."

When it comes time for his own shot, Ned moves to the table, but he looks up at the brothers, waiting until their gazes rise to his face. "It could've, but it didn't," he says, his voice soft and dangerous. "She almost died. And let's get one thing straight. I'm not the kind of asshole who's going to forbid her from ever working with you two again. Much as I may want to, that just isn't my style, and she has her own mind, she can think for herself.

"Just know that if she ever comes home to me with another fucking bullet wound in her, because of some stupid oversight the two of you made... I definitely will not be anywhere _near_ this forgiving."

\--

Nancy resists the urge to swirl the straw in her tequila sunrise, mingling the carefully layered colors in the glass. She does take a long sip of it, though. Her dinner is starting to take some of the edge off and she fears she'll need it if she's going to get through the next half hour or so.

She can feel the distance between them, and she hates that it's there at all.

Bess is still bright-eyed, but George... George keeps looking away, fidgeting with her drink, her napkin, anything to keep her hands busy. George has never really been good with confrontation or anything emotional, and Nancy's afraid that if they do start talking about what happened at Wilder, the dam might burst entirely.

"I'm sorry," Nancy begins. "I'm so sorry. I hate that we drifted apart the way we did. I never meant for that to happen."

"Is that what you really think it was?" George says, staring down at her drink. "That we just _drifted apart_? Nan, _all_ you were doing was... well, shit, I don't even know. You weren't picking up the phone ever. When we needed you, it was like anything else was more important."

Bess looks down, shifting uncomfortably in her seat, and doesn't say anything.

Nancy swallows hard. She's glad Ned took Frank and Joe out so they could talk, but for a moment she desperately wishes that he was still beside her, his presence granting her some measure of equilibrium. "I know," she says softly. "It felt like you two were... well, like your lives were becoming so different, and after Ned and I broke up..."

"You changed," Bess says, and clears her throat. "You say _our_ lives were becoming different, but yours too, Nan... and you always said you were busy, but since when did a case mean you couldn't just grab lunch or pick up a fucking phone?"

Nancy shakes her head. "Working on cases was the only thing that made me feel like I was... like I wouldn't fly out of my skin, and I didn't want to hear you two say I told you so..."

"About what?"

God, she hates even thinking about it. "Every guy I dated, after Ned," she says, and takes a long sip of her drink. "I thought I was... I don't know what I thought I was doing. Jake wanted to sleep with me, so we did. Michael wanted to sleep with me... and they didn't love me, not really, but when we were having sex I could forget that for a little while. And then it didn't even fucking matter. I would just go to the club or the bar and grab a guy, and make sure he had condoms, and I hated it. I hated how empty I felt after, when I'd walk back to my room and count the... the bruises. I was just fucking drowning in it and my life was just that and cases and... and that's no excuse, I know..."

She keeps going, telling them about the shooting, how it felt like she woke to discover that her entire world had changed and she no longer had a place in it. How reconnecting with Ned, showing him that she had changed, gaining his trust again, had been hard... and she loves him so much, but he isn't all she's been missing.

And Bess pours it all out too, how alone she felt when she was starting out in the theatre department, after the tumult and heartbreak of her first semester. She was so proud of herself for following through with something, for actually succeeding, for losing that last five pounds and working out to keep herself fit, but Nancy hadn't been around to share it.

It takes George longer to talk about it, but she had finally felt like she had found the great love of her life, even while Nancy had been losing hers. Every aspect of her relationship with Will had been insanely important, every decision one that could mean the end of her world, and by the time things had finally ended with him, George had found herself at loose ends, estranged from one of her best friends and far away from the other. She only vaguely alludes to the pregnancy, and Nancy doesn't want to press her, not on that.

"It just hurt so much to feel like I wasn't, like we weren't important to you anymore," George says, then takes a long sip of her drink. "We had always made time for each other, Nan. Always."

"And when we went to Wilder... I fucked up everything," Nancy says frankly. "I did. I threw away the most important relationships in my life and then figured out that I didn't even _want_ to be a journalist. It was such a colossal fucking waste. And I have missed you guys _so much._ When Ned and I got engaged I didn't even feel like I could call you..."

"Oh, Nan. I wish you had," Bess says. "I'm so happy for you and Ned. I know when we started at Wilder you wanted a fresh start, a fresh everything, but you without Ned... without _us_..."

"Just didn't make sense," Nancy finishes quietly. "I just wanted to tell both of you... it took Ned a long time to trust me again, and I don't blame him for that, and I don't blame you guys for being skeptical, but I want to be... friends again. And whatever that takes, if you want to get together every two weeks or every month to catch up with each other and have drinks, if you want us to just call each other... whatever you want to do. We have all this history together and it just feels like such a shame to just let it fade away like I did."

George shakes her head. "But you're working as a PI, right? How are you even gonna have time to do any of that?"

"The same way I did, and do, with Ned," she replies. "I make time. I know it's hard to believe, but when I clock out, I'm out. Ask him. I think I've had to break five dates in the last _year_. Plus, it's a lot easier when I just stay over at his place most nights of the week..."

Bess chuckles. "Wow. I seem to remember you swearing you'd save it for your wedding night. Sleeping over with your fiancé? I am _scandalized_."

"I seem to remember us _all_ swearing that, not just me, _and_ that we were nine at the time," Nancy points out, finishing her drink. "We've all changed."

"We have," George agrees. "And, Nan... I have missed you. I missed you a lot. You were one of my best friends for _years_ and... and so many times I just wanted to pick up the phone and call you, but I didn't know if you even _cared_."

"Oh, God... I did. I swear I did. And I'm so sorry."

"I need a fucking shot," George says, holding up her hand to signal the bartender.

"I'd love to hang out sometime," Bess says. "Can I get a top-shelf margarita? Thanks.—I just wish I was back in Chicago more often. I mean, I _love_ New York, really love it, it's so damn exciting here... but how often are you out this way?"

"That is true," George chimes in. "When we _do_ decide to hang out, sounds like the impetus is on _you_ , cuz."

Nancy's heart rises a little when she hears George say _when_ , not _if._ "Maybe the next school break?" Nancy suggests. "We could come back to New York for a weekend and eat junk food and watch trashy movies like we used to do."

"Like those Saturdays we'd eat pancakes and then go jogging," George smiles. "Sounds great."

"Oh, I know you're daring me, but just watch me. I'll kick your ass all over the place," Bess teases her cousin. "And I'll have to make it back for at least one wedding shower," she adds. "Who's coordinating everything?"

Nancy notices the shift in Bess's tone. "Well, Aunt Eloise and I were talking today... she was shocked that we haven't even set a date yet. But I couldn't... speaking of things we promised when we were little, remember how we always said we'd be maids of honor at each other's weddings?"

"And I swore I'd never get married, _and_ that if either of you put me in hot pink I'd kill you?" George says, then tips back her shot.

"And I always knew I'd be the first married and I'd have to be the matron of honor and I _hated_ the idea of being called that? Oh, I don't remember that at all," Bess says with a chuckle, licking the salt at the edge of her margarita glass before taking a long sip.

"I figured out that I don't... I feel like I can't start planning one of the most important days of my life without you guys," Nancy admits. "I always saw you beside me on my wedding day, and... I would be so incredibly grateful if you'd be my maids of honor."

Bess squeals. "Oh my God, Nan! I would love that!"

Nancy and Bess turn to George, who is already gesturing for another shot. "I think you know exactly how much I relish the idea of going over china patterns and invitations," George says. "But I can make an exception, in your case."

Nancy puts an arm around each of them, and they're drunk enough that they tip together, giggling. "You have no idea how much this means to me," Nancy says, her eyes stinging. "I mean it. Getting back together with Ned was like finding half of myself again... and you two are like the other half."

They linger in the hug for a moment. "I know what you mean," George murmurs, as Bess grins happily.

"Oh my God we have got to go to Kleinfeld!" Bess cheers, still visibly excited. "How much longer are you in town? Oh man... it'll be like _Say Yes to the Dress_ but with slightly less entourage and slightly more George-snark. Oh my God I cannot _wait_."

George chuckles. "Yeah, you're scaring me. But you know what's honestly scaring me more? The fact that you left Ned and Frank and Joe alone together."

"Yeah, we really should head over there," Nancy says. "After one more shot. It's still a little weird to be around Frank."

"Oh God, don't tell me you two are still sneaking around making out," Bess says, bringing her margarita to her lips.

"Uh... definitely not anymore. And definitely not since Ned asked me point blank if I'd slept with Frank..."

Bess narrowly avoids snorting half her sip of margarita up her nose. "Okay, dish, _now_. At this rate we're going to have a two-week sleepover to get totally caught up. _Especially_ after I tell you guys who sent me flowers after the show last month," she says, her eyes sparkling.

\--

Ned's supposed to check in at his workplace the next day, although he was purposefully vague about the timeframe; given the way the rest of the trip has gone, it will feel like an utter waste if they don't drag their luggage into his apartment and tumble into bed together for at least a little while. He doesn't really need a fucking hangover to nurse on the flight home.

And yet, he finds that whenever Frank or Joe orders another drink, he can't stop himself.

Nancy's glowing with happiness and what looks like relief when she walks in with Bess and George, and Ned always kinda hated when they had one of their little heart-to-heart talks. The cousins have that same look in their eyes, of something shared and deliciously secret, and the way they look at him and Frank...

And the way Frank looks at her.

The girls challenge the guys to a game of pool, and they're all a little too drunk, the girls a little too giggly. Bess flirts outrageously with Joe, and in between she makes comments to Nancy that seem to make no sense until Ned figures they're probably related to the wedding, throwing around words like shantung and basque and Swarovski and fingertip-length. George is a little quieter but Nancy keeps cracking jokes and George has another drink before she's joining in.

And then Nancy lines up her shot, giggling, but her hands are steady and Ned knows she's not quite so drunk as she appears. He wants to walk up behind her, place his hands over hers, murmur into her ear until she's gazing back at him wide-eyed, speechless and flushed.

"Frank, tell her that she needs get her ass back to New York soon," Bess says, idly bouncing her pool cue in the circle of her finger and thumb as she waits for her next turn. "Better yet, find some great case, that'll do it. And when you're done with her I'll drag her to Kleinfeld for a day and hold her hostage until she agrees to at least _think_ about coming here for a while."

Nancy darts a mock glare at Bess. "Look, I already said we'd go to Kleinfeld, okay? I don't need a case to get me here."

"It always helped," Bess shrugs.

Nancy shakes her head and lines up her next shot, but Frank definitely looks way too eager to talk about it. "It has been a while," he says, and then it's like he remembers, and he glances up at Ned. And then Ned realizes George's gaze is on him too, and he isn't disguising the way he's feeling at all.

"First Mel, now you two," Nancy sighs, brushing her hair out of her face. "I know we're kicking your asses—you're just trying to distract me."

"All's fair," Ned comments, crossing his arms. "Besides, there's so much we haven't had time to do here yet. It'd be nice to come back for a few days."

Nancy's gaze finds his. They've had plenty of time to _do_ things, it's just most of that time they've spent naked.

"Oh, you're optimistic if you think she'll actually have any time for sightseeing," Bess laughs. "You must not have visited any bridal stores yet. And that's between her sneaking off for some clue-finding sessions with the Hardys here."

"So what are you saying?" Ned demands, crossing so he can get a better view of his fiancée as she leans over the table. "I might as well just write off spending time with my girl again until after we're married?"

"Basically," Bess nods.

After the girls win they agree to one more game, and when Frank casually brings it up again, his and Joe's tentative plans to start their own agency, well, it's only natural that Nancy volunteer her own experience and tips on what they should do. Frank sighs and says there's just so much help they're going to need, and Nancy says she would love to help, and then her gaze rises to Ned's. She's not asking permission, not quite, but there's an expression there, and the alcohol sizzling in his head doesn't have time for subtleties.

"So how soon you thinking about doing this, Hardy?" Ned asks, circling the table to line up his shot. "A few months?"

"Maybe. Depends on what we'll need to do."

"That's fantastic. Really great." Ned can't tell whether he sounds sarcastic or not. "Really, really great."

Nancy touches his hand when he moves back from the table, but she doesn't say what he wishes she would—and then he thinks of Campbell's phone call and just feels miserable. With the six of them together like this, remembering the way things used to be, God, he hates it.

Nancy is her own woman, and he trusts her, he does. But they had only been around Jennifer for a damn weekend. Thinking of Nancy around Frank on a case again—it has nothing to do with his trust in her, it doesn't. It doesn't.

It does. He thinks of her the way she was on the stakeout, long legs and shapely curves and the eager glint in her eye when she's tracking down a lead, thinks of her and Frank in close quarters. She wanted Jen to see that she had been bested, that she wasn't going to win, and Ned's put that ring on her finger but for God's sake, there is no dance floor and dragging her to the bathroom with him would be way too obvious, Ned's a better guy than that.

And then Frank's saying, "Remember when we were in Egypt," and maybe he isn't a better guy than that.

"Of course I do, but I thought we were talking about _good_ memories here," Nancy says, and Bess giggles as she lines up her shot.

The thought of it, of them on cases, makes him feel like he's on the outside again. He hates that he envies the relationship she has with any of them. When they broke up, he had been miserable without her, but she had lost everything, lost her two best friends, lost her way, and him besides. Now that she's back in his life, Ned feels content, excited about the direction his life is going for the first time in a while... but he wasn't the last missing piece for _her_ , only one of the first.

He doesn't want to go back to what they were. He doesn't want to feel like a bystander in her life again, the person she calls when she needs help tracking down a lead. And she's his damn fiancée, he _knows_ he's not in danger of falling back into that familiar, hated role in her life... but a part of him has always been afraid it will happen anyway. For as long as he can remember, every time she's been around Frank he's seen that damn connection between them, and if they're in New York together...

He shakes his head a little. He's just putting out feelers, after all. He's not even sure if he likes the idea of living in the city. He especially doesn't like the thought of her around Hardy that much, though he would never admit it to her.

Ned snaps back to attention when he feels Nancy's hand on his, after she's missed her shot. She stands on her tiptoes and her lips brush his earlobe.

"Finish this game, Nickerson, so we can get out of here."

He makes quick work of his next three shots, but when he misses one George gives him a run for his money, and they're all at ease and joking with each other. Any little side comments Frank tries to make, Nancy smiles and gently turns to something else. Nancy and Bess are still nursing their drinks, but the rest of them have switched to soda or water, and that means when it comes time for Bess's turn again, even when George offers to shoot for her, Bess waves her off, giggling.

"Eight ball side pocket," she announces, casting a grateful low-lidded glance at Joe when he helps keep her cue steady.

"No fair. No consorting with the enemy," George says.

"Oh, come on," Bess says, wrinkling her nose at her cousin, dissolving into full laughter when she scratches on the shot, and George loudly cries foul.

"Well then," Ned announces, and when he reaches for Nancy's hand he finds her already turning to him. "Great game, guys, and I'm so glad we were able to get together. We'll have to do this again soon."

"Mmm-hmm," George says as she gives up on her protest, her eyes dancing as she glances between the two of them. "Definitely. You better give me a call, Drew."

"I will," Nancy promises, giving George a hug. "And we're gonna have to do that long weekend soon, too. I've heard picking out a wedding dress might take a while..."

"I'm sure it will, to get the approval of both your maids of honor," Bess says, a sparkle in her eye as she hugs Nancy. "And we've got to get a move on, too. I can't wait!"

Ned gives Bess and George each a quick hug while Nancy slings her arm around Joe's shoulders, telling him to keep an eye on his brother in her absence. And then Frank envelops her in a warm hug when Joe clasps Ned's hand, giving him a little nod.

"It's been too long, Drew. I'll call you soon."

"Can't wait," Nancy tells Frank, smiling when they pull apart. "And if you're around Chicago..."

"I'll be sure to let you know."

Nancy laces her fingers through Ned's as they walk out, and they nod a goodbye as they claim a cab. His head is buzzing, but he still feels uncomfortable, almost distracted.

"Do you want to move here?" he asks, as soon as he gives the hotel's address to the cab driver.

Nancy blinks at him, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "Um..."

"I mean, I _know_ Joe and Frank would love to have you here—and you'd be near Bess, and..."

Her fingers tighten between his. "I'm sure all that is true—not to mention Mel and Emily and Campbell, and my aunt too—but I don't really care if _they_ would love me being here. Do you—do you want _us_ to move here?"

He shrugs. "I don't know," he murmurs.

She cups his cheek, tipping his face back up so she can look into it. "Thanks for—for everything. For putting up with Frank—and Joe, giving us some time to catch back up together. I kinda wished you were there," she admits. "But Bess and George, we're going to keep in touch, and they're going to be my maids of honor, and I feel like... like without them I would have regretted it. It finally feels like everything's gonna be okay again."

He gives her a brief smile, brushing her lower lip with his thumb. "I'm glad for you, baby."

"Then why..." She's more direct about it than she would have been; the alcohol has finally caught up with her, and her fingertips linger on him.

Ned sighs. "I just don't want things to go back to the way they were," he mutters reluctantly.

"The way they used—?"

"I guess I got spoiled, spending so much time with you," he says, and touches her cheek. "I don't want to let you go... but I guess I'm gonna have to."

"And why would you need to do that?" she asks, giving him a small smile. "You're gonna be my husband. And sure, if you don't want to go along and watch me prance around in these huge frilly dresses while Bess and George laugh at me..."

"Oh, you're not gonna want me along on that," he says, shaking his head, but he's smiling a little too. "Bad luck, after all."

"Bad luck? After everything else?" She shakes her head. "It's the first day of _our_ life, and I want to wear a dress that you love on me. I'd love you to come along."

"And I'd love to go along, if that's what you want," he says. "But you just don't get it, babe. You are incredibly gorgeous and whatever you wear, it won't be as beautiful as the woman underneath."

She giggles, a little flush rising in her cheeks, above the alcohol. "If you're trying to butter me up, Nickerson, it's working."

"That's _close_ to what I'm trying to do to you."

"Hey, it's been a good..." She glances at her watch. "Twenty hours since we last had sex. And seeing that hot ass of yours when you leaned over to take your shots? _Mmmmm._ "

"Oh, you noticed me? That's good to know."

Her lips twist a little. "Baby... this must be hard for you," she says sympathetically. "Tell me, if Jen had stripped naked and waited for you in bed—which, as I recall, she practically did—would you have gone for it?"

"You know I didn't," he remarks, and kisses her earlobe. "And I definitely wouldn't now."

"And I was pretty sure—"

" _Pretty_ sure?"

"We weren't together then, not really," she reminds him. "But yeah, even though I was pretty sure you wouldn't have, I still wanted to rip her face off. So I know how little comfort this is, but—you don't have to worry about him and me. I'm spoken for, and he's no comparison to you. In any conceivable way." Her gaze flicks from his mouth to his eyes.

"And, while I'm very glad to hear that... after what happened on the last case, I just hate the idea of him putting you in danger."

She shakes her head. "I'm a lot better trained now," she says softly, as his fingertips trail over her chest. "It won't be like that. So you're afraid he's either going to fuck me or get me killed."

"Or both. And I'd rip him into tiny pieces if he made a move on you..." His thumb brushes the scar tissue of her bullet wound before his hand grazes her breast. "But a quick death wouldn't be good enough for him if he and one of those damn cases got you hurt again. I've spent enough time without you, Nan. And I'm always worried about you, but the thought of you working with him again..."

She sighs, arching into his touch, moving her face close to his. "Are you going to tell me not to?"

"I'm not going to tell you to _not do_ a damn thing," he replies, and he feels her relax a little in response. "If you tell me you want to move to New York and set up shop with the Hardys, then I'll say okay, if that's what makes you happy. As long as you understand that when you come home to me I'm going to probably hold you to me for a good thirty minutes just listening to you breathe." He brushes his lips against her ear. "And then maybe try to fuck you until you're so worn out that you don't even want to get up the next day."

"And if you tell me you want to move here and work with Will—yeah, I do pay attention," she says, off his mildly surprised look. "If you tell me you're thinking about that, I'll say okay, if that makes you happy, and we'll find some tiny apartment with astronomical rent and neighbors who get fed up pounding on the walls, shouting at us to keep it down while we're fucking."

"And if we decide to stay in Chicago?" he murmurs, moving back to look into her eyes.

"Then I'll keep working with Trent, and catch up with the Hardys every now and then, and my dad will breathe a sigh of relief knowing we're still in the same state," she says, and kisses his cheek. "And I'll be with you, and I'll be happy with you."

"Nan... if I'm not enough..."

"Oh, God, sweetheart." She sits back a little, her gaze intent on his as the cab pulls to a stop in front of the hotel and they slide out. "I love my job, and I'm thrilled that everything's okay between Bess and George and me now, and would I turn down a chance to work with the Hardys? Probably not. But underneath all that, knowing that you're here for me, that you're the guy I'm coming home to? You make me stronger. I can't imagine how empty my life would feel without you in it."

"I feel the same way," Ned tells her, and they ignore the pointed stares from the receptionist desk as they head for the elevator. "And I really am glad everything went so well tonight. It was just so hard to stand there and not punch them..."

As soon as the doors close behind them, she stands on her tiptoes, slipping her arms around him. "And I think you deserve something for that," she murmurs, her eyes glowing. "Aren't there a couple of things we didn't get to try out yesterday?"

"There definitely are," he murmurs, before brushing his lips over hers. Too much of the Museum of Sex shop had been interesting to them both.

He kisses her once more, gently, and when the elevator reaches their floor he laces his fingers between hers, walking with her to their room. Last night they had practically ripped each other's clothes off before they had made it through the door. He can feel her curious gaze on him, and when he opens the door she tugs him inside.

"What do you..."

She trails off when he kisses her, her body rising against his as she slips her arms around him. He traces his fingertips around the neckline of her gown until she reaches to her right side and inches the zipper down, and he takes over, then tugs her dress up, over her head. She slides his shirt up too, they toe out of their shoes, and when they're both naked she glances at the Museum of Sex bag on their bedside table. While they did tear through most of the contents the night before, just thinking about a few of the items they didn't quite get to try out is enough to get him hard.

Ned shakes his head though, picking her up slightly, walking with her to the bed, and her eyes are wide, glowing with the desire he can already feel radiating off her. Her legs are sprawled open, hanging over the edge of the mattress, and he steps between, leaning over her to kiss her again. She runs her fingers through his hair and moans softly when his tongue slips against hers, and he takes his time with it. So often their kisses are just a prelude but he's always loved making out with her, and ever since they first started sleeping together she's been more and more relaxed about it, but he loves when the tip of her tongue traces underneath his, when she gently nips at his lower lip.

And oh, oh they were rough, the night before; he felt the welts of her nails down his back, the mark of her teeth against his shoulder, and now he ghosts his fingers down her side, nuzzling against her breasts, and he sees the marks of his fingers there. She had been insatiable, both of them had, urging each other on. The brush of his lips over the curve of her breast is so light, and then he pulls her nipple into his mouth and she moans, drawing her legs up. He rubs the ball of his thumb over her other nipple and feels her shift under him, wrapping her legs around his waist. "Mmmm," she breathes, and she shudders as he barely trails his fingertips down her side, toward her hip.

He switches off, tracing his fingertips over her other side as he suckles her other breast, and she moans, her heels sliding up his back. "We're gonna be slow tonight, huh, baby," she murmurs, shivering when he flicks the tip of his tongue against the tight flesh.

"Mmm-hmm," he murmurs, pulling back, and she moves back when he kneels on the bed, between her legs. He pushes her knees apart and she shivers as he kisses the scars, the bullet wound, the curved path of a knife against her side, and the closer he comes to her waist, the faster she pants.

He leans up to tease her breasts again as he cups the join of her thighs, and God she's wet, shivering as soon as his fingertips make contact with her skin. He traces two fingers up and down the line of curls at the edge of her sex, and she makes a soft pleading sound, her nails very gently raking against his scalp. He makes his way down her chest more swiftly this time, slipping two fingers up into the slick heat of her cunt, and she cries out, her hips rocking up against him. "Mmmm yes, _yes_ ," she gasps out, tightening her fist in his hair.

"Feel so good," he murmurs as he traces his tongue around her belly button. "Oh, you feel so damn good, baby."

He kisses his way down and she shudders when he first licks the firm button of her clit. "Mmmm, God, _yes_ ," she whimpers, arching under him. "Yes, feels so fucking good, oh my God, Ned..."

He lashes her clit back and forth with the tip of his tongue, circles it, suckles it gently, and she circles her hips, crying out her desperation. He feels another wave of her arousal, slick and hot against his fingertips, as he pushes them even deeper into her cunt. She writhes, tipping her head back as he licks his way down, gently stroking her clit with his fingertips as he works his way over the slick folds of her sex, pressing his tongue into the tight heat of her cunt.

"Mmmm, oh my _God_ ," she cries out as he works his tongue inside her, tasting her arousal, feeling her clench as he strokes her clit even faster. She's begging, her hand tightening in his hair as she pushes him against her.

"Come," he murmurs, kissing her clit as he slides three fingers into her cunt. "Come, baby." He works his fingers in her with rapid thrusts, even as she begins to jerk against him, sucking her clit between his lips as he fucks her faster. He licks her clit, then keeps going, rubbing the stubbled point of his chin against her before he tips his head back down again, and she cries out, rocking under him as he feels her cunt tighten against his fingers.

He draws it out until she's jerking, her breath coming in high sharp cries, and he circles her clit with the tip of his tongue one last time before he pulls back. She's loosely cupping one breast, panting, sprawled, her skin faintly gleaming with sweat, and she moans a little when he slips his fingers out of her.

Her eyes flutter open when he drags her to the edge of the mattress, and her mouth falls open just before he fits the tip of his throbbing cock between her slick inner lips.

"Oh God, oh fuck baby, oh _God_ ," she cries out when he slides into her in one smooth thrust. She wraps her legs around him, shuddering when he dips down to suckle against her nipple again, and oh God the way she falls open under him, her cunt so tight around him as he moves slowly in and out of her. Her breasts tremble at the deepest point of his thrusts, and she digs her fingers into his shoulders, his shoulder blades, moaning when he finally lifts his head to look down into her eyes, as he moves against her tender, still-sensitive inner flesh.

And their gazes meet and oh God, it will never fucking get old, the immediate longing it sparks in him, shuddering all the way down his spine. He makes his next thrust a little faster, a little harder, and her brow knits, she licks her lips as he works in her, bringing her to the edge of another orgasm. When she begins to rock her hips up under him, her gaze locked to his as she moans, begging him to fuck her harder, to let her come, he trails his fingertips down her chest and she's panting with anticipation as he flicks her clit, his teeth gritting at the effort of holding back.

"Oh _God_ ," she shrieks, bucking up under him. "Oh God _yes yes please oh God_."

"Mmmm, baby," he pants, his hips pistoning against hers as he rubs her clit harder, and he moans when he feels her clench around him. "So good, Nan, feels so fucking good."

She writhes under him, her mouth falling open, and she tips her head back until the crown is against the comforter, her legs tightening to pull him down to her as she comes.  He collapses to her, groaning in relief as he finally comes, buried hilt-deep in the slick heat of her cunt. She moans when she tips her chin down, running her fingers up to slide through his hair, still weakly clenching around him.

"Mmm," she murmurs, when their gazes meet. "Wow..."

"Yeah," he agrees, smoothing a lock of hair off her cheek. "You like that?"

She nods, her brow furrowing a little as he pulls out of her. "It was kinda like my birthday..."

He chuckles, finding a washcloth for her before returning to bed. They had decided to see just how many times he could make her come in a row, and by the end of the night she had been thoroughly spent, her hair a mess, slick with sweat and cum, and that night he _had_ needed to clean her up and put a nightgown on her and tuck her in, because she had been entirely unable to do it herself.

"Yeah, well, felt like we'd had enough toys for the day," he murmurs, pulling the covers back. On her birthday when he hadn't had his tongue, fingers, or cock inside her cunt, he'd fucked her with a vibrator, watching her writhe and squirm as he'd pushed it home between her thighs, pressing the protrusion hard against her clit, until he was hard again.

"Hey, did you hear me complaining just now?" she murmurs, joining him between the sheets, resting her head against his shoulder. "Mmm, Ned, that was so damn good."

He strokes her cheek, pressing a kiss against her forehead. "Just wanted to make sure you remembered why you were with me."

She chuckles, rolling her eyes. "Uh, because you are the most handsome, genuine, charming, amazing guy I've ever met? Because no one else could be nearly as perfect for me as you are? _And_ because you've spoiled me for all other guys because my _God_ , now that I'm finally used to taking every inch of that fucking gorgeous cock, no one else is _ever_ gonna be able to make me come the way you can?"

"Yeah, all those things," Ned chuckles. "Nan... would it make you happy to move here?"

"I don't know," she murmurs. "Let's just get through the wedding, okay? Regardless of where we end up—since Aunt Eloise is all for us getting married in the Hamptons..."

"The Hamptons, huh?" He curves his arm around her.

"Where do you want to get married?"

"Indoors," he replies, deadpan. "I'll let you and Bess and George handle the details. As long as you make it to the altar on time, I don't care if we eat king crab or hamburgers, I don't care if we hire Johnny Depp to play the reception or listen to mix tapes we recorded in high school... well, scratch that. I want you all to myself on our wedding night, not watching you make googly-eyes at a hot movie star."

"Mmm. And what do you want me to _wear_ , on our wedding night?"

"I was hoping for nothing," he murmurs, letting out a little sigh as she brushes her fingertips over his nipple.

"Damn. Aunt Eloise and I went by _the_ most interesting little lingerie store this afternoon..."

"So _that's_ why you were gone so long."

"Yeah, I thought about telling you, but then I thought you might drag me to the bathroom during dinner..."

"I thought about it," he admits.

Nancy chuckles. "I can't win."

"So, fashion show?"

"It's for our wedding night," she tells him. "I know there's not a lot of surprise left..."

She trails off, and he brushes his lips against her forehead. "I'm sorry, sweetheart," he whispers. "Do you regret that?"

She shakes her head. "I regret that I ever did it with anyone else," she murmurs. "And I keep hoping... that we'll do it enough times, enough ways, that it'll stop mattering so much, that you won't... think about..."

"Nan," he murmurs, moving back so he can look down at her. "Baby... so I won't think about what? Do I hate that we were apart? Of course I do. Would I go back and change it? Of course I would. But we can't... and as far as I'm concerned, it's done, sweetheart. What happened when we were apart, it's a closed book."

"Until you think about Frank," she murmurs.

"Okay, that's different," he defends himself. "The shit between us is from _before_."

She pushes herself up to look into his eyes. "I know... and I'm sorry," she murmurs. "So it's done... and you don't ever think about anyone else..."

He shakes his head. "I don't. Do you?"

She shakes her head, leaning down to kiss him. "Only you, sweetheart. I mean, unless Johnny has his shirt off in the movie I'm watching..."

Ned lets out a startled laugh against her lips. "Or when that one hot chick at my work is wearing a skirt that's way too short, or when Mel halfway asks if we want to have a threesome..."

Nancy pulls back, her eyes blazing, and Ned brushes his fingertips over her cheek. "You are the only woman I want in my bed," he whispers. "And the only thing that's important to me is making a life with you, making you as happy as I can for the rest of our lives."

"And the girls... before...?" She turns her head, kissing his palm.

"Were the palest imitations of what I wanted," he whispers, pulling her on top of him. "You, baby. Always you."

She straddles him, brushing her lips over his as he cups her ass. "Flattery will get you everywhere," she whispers into his mouth.

"Mmm. Long as it gets me into that tight little pussy of yours, I'm not complaining."


End file.
